The Earth was invaded by seven realms at the beginning of the war, in April of 1990. They spread out over the globe in a coordinated effort to divide the defenses of the planet.

The first was the realm of Orrorsh, which descended on Southeast Asia. Orrorsh is a horror realm, using fear as a weapon in its attack. Monsters and the occult became the tools of the attack. Its High Lord, the Gaunt Man, is the most feared of the invaders. He brought with him citizens of his previous home, who are Victorian English in their appearance and mannerisms, as well as their level of technology.

The Living Land landed on New York City and quickly spread out to cover most of the eastern United States. The Living Land is a primitive reality where any technology beyond a simple spear ceases to function. The residents of the Living Land - intelligent lizard men - have a very close relationship with their goddess, Lanala, and can call upon powerful miracles. Jungles and dinosaurs are the dominant features of area controlled by the Living Land.

England was invaded by Aysle, a sword-and-magic realm of low technology and high magic and spirituality. In typical Dungeons-and-Dragons style, Aysle is home to dragons, wizards, giants, and elves. Early in the war, there was a leadership struggle which curtailed their expansion, but they have caught up since then.

France was initially invaded by a low-tech, medieval style religion-based reality called Magna Verita. After most of the technology in France ceased to function, the High Lord of this reality was subjected to a cyber-memory implant which gave him a vision of cyberware and high-technology. Seeing this, the Darkness Device implemented this, resulting in a surge of technology across France. The realm became a mix of religious zealotry and cyber technology called the Cyberpapacy.

In Egypt, an insane villain sporting a hood imposed a 1920's technology reality over northern Africa where action and drama flowed just like the pulp fiction novels of the early 1900's. Heroes and villains had some superpowers, the good guys are GOOD, and the bad guys are BAD. Even though it was low-tech, scientists using strange devices were able to make seeming impossible gadgets do amazing things. The Nile Empire had an Egyptian theme, due to the eccentricity of its High Lord, Mobius.

Although the other six invasions were obvious and overt in their intentions, the last of the initial invaders did so in secret. Nippon Tech invaded Japan, but not in a military fashion. Their technology is slightly more advanced than Earth's, but their society is based on economic conflict and subterfuge rather than military might. They infiltrated Japan's society and bought up major corporations, quickly assuming control without any of the residents even knowing that anything was amiss.

The techno-magical realm of Tharkold was supposed to be part of the initial invasion, but a Russian psychic divined the location of the invasion, and it was stopped before it ever happened. Later, Tharkold managed to get a foothold in Los Angeles and set up a small area of control there, barely the size of the city. They are huge, demonic creatures who emply extensive cyberware as well as magic and high-tech weaponry. In straight combat, they are unparalleled.

A later addition to the war was a spacefaring group known as the Akashans. They had been to Earth once before, leaving some of their relics in South America. When Storm Knights used an item called the Signal Fire, they unknowingly called the Akashans to Earth. The Akashans have many of the same mannerisms as the ancient Incans. They are very peaceful and accepting, but are plagued by a virus which sets up a communal intelligence among all those infected.