Convention of Thorns

The Convention of Thorns was an agreement between leaders of the Camarilla, the Anarchs and the Assamite clan made on October 23, 1493. Its name comes from the location of the meeting: the Abbey of the Sacred Crown near the small village of Thorns outside Silchester in England. It marked the end of open conflict between the three groups, and more specifically an end to the first Anarch Revolt.

The Convention was proposed by the founders of the Camarilla, who had created the sect only seven years earlier. It called for a lasting truce with the Assamites and Anarchs, who were both offered a place in the Camarilla; the Anarchs accepted - they had little choice - while the Assamites declined. The Assamite truce was assured, however, by the elders of the Brujah clan, who had captured and ransomed seven Assamite elders. In addition to a large payment of gold, the Assamites had to submit their entire clan to a Thaumaturgical curse levied by the Tremere which would prevent them from committing diablerie. In spite of this, the Convention specifically states that the Assamites are independent of all Camarilla demands and may freely diablerise their own clan members and any Kindred not claiming membership in the Camarilla.

(See the Treaty of Tyre for possibly historical inaccuracies regarding the Assamites part in the Convention.)

The Convention places equal responsibility on all three groups for maintaining the peace, but is seen by most Anarchs as a disaster. It specified that while no Anarchs would face reprisals for their actions (except for the especially heinous, which would be considered by the Justicars within a year or forgotten), they would have to return to their clans and sires, reestablishing the status quo they had rebelled against. Anarchs of the Lasombra and Tzimisce clans did not accept the Convention, however, and went on to form the Sabbat; a number of Anarchs from other clans followed suit and became the first antitribu.

Despite further Anarch rebellions, like the establishment of the Anarch Free State on the west coast of America in the 1940s, and the breaking of the Assamite blood curse, the Convention of Thorns is still upheld, if not respected, in most Camarilla cities. Anarchs are not punished unless they hide their membership or openly rebel, and Assamites are hired as assassins or executioners by many Princes, sometimes allowed to diablerize their victims as payment.

The founders of the Camarilla

• Adana de Sforza (Brujah)
• Milov Petrenkov (Gangrel)
• Camilla Banes (Malkavian)
• Josef von Bauren (Nosferatu)
• Rafael de Corazon (Toreador)
• Mistress Fanchon (Tremere)
• Hardestadt the Elder/Younger (Ventrue)

The original archons

• Gilbert d’Harfleur, (Ventrue)
• Father Jean-Marc d’Harfleur, (Toreador)
• Federico DiPadua, (Nosferatu)
• Lilika Kairos, (Brujah)

Other Cainites at the Convention

• Eleanor de Valois, (Brujah)
• Father Samuel, (Toreador)
• Patricia of Bollingbroke, (Brujah antitribu)
• Unmada, (Malkavian)
• Durga Syn, (Ravnos)
• Myca Vykos, (Tzimisce)
• Maltheas, (Ventrue)
• Karif al Numair, (Assamite antitribu)

References

• VTDA: Transylvania Chronicles II: Son of the Dragon, pg. 51-71
• VTM: Guide to the Anarchs, pg. 17-20
• VTM: Guide to the Sabbat, pg, 13-17
• VTM: Guide to the Camarilla, p. 21
• VTM: Encyclopaedia Vampirica, p. 51

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