In the late 2020's Earth underwent a massive change. For twelve years WWIII had been raging on, and many cities had been wiped off the face of the planet. Some countries even ceased to exist, as they were conquered, and then fought over constantly.
At some point, even the alliances broke apart, and only the strongest of allies stayed together. Total anarchy and chaos consumed the world as it was torn apart and ravaged by war. Powers nuked each other with reckless abandon, but thankfully there were those who came along with calmer heads and weary souls.
A gathering of whoever was left standing took place. Every single world leader, military advisor and important figure at that time had a meeting. It took over two weeks before finally, peace was achieved.
Every side could agree to the terms put forward, either because they were too tired to keep arguing, or because they knew their people wouldn't last much longer if the war kept going. Eventually however, the Okobe Accords were signed.
Named after the person who had initially brought forward the idea, Benji Okobe had proposed the wildest thing imaginable. At first, everyone took it with a grain of salt or dismissed him as crazy. There was no way they would agree. But the more Okobe talked on and explained his plans, the more and more people bought into the idea.
In essence, Benji had proposed to do away with countries and borders, as well as dissolving the leaders and ruling parties of whatever nations were left. Then he put forth that they would all agree and vote in ten people, no matter their station, to lead a council that would bring a time of peace to Earth.
Everyone balked at the thought that ten people would hold all the power, and some even threatened to have Okobe banned from the gathering. Seeing that his idea wasn't moving forward, he brought forth a different plan. Instead of a council of people, it became a council of "families."
Members would draw a slip of paper at random from a box and be assigned to that family. It didn't matter what country you served under; you now owed allegiance to your family and nothing else. To ensure everything was fair, even the positions and rankings amongst the family were drawn.
Once all powerful leaders turned into merchants and soldiers, and vice versa. So, it went until every person present had a family, and a position in that family.
The only person exempt from this was Okobe himself. He was granted the top position of his own family due to the fact that he was the one who thought of everything.
In total, ten families were formed. The Okobe Family, the Valdenci Family, the Marionet Family, the Edwards Family, the Kingston Family, the Jien-Shi Family, the Rurkan Family, the Ithien Family, the Hurst Family and the Niveah Family.
Each family was named after the person who had drawn the "Head of the Family" position. Even with all this done, Okobe took it a step further. Each family head was to draw lots on the territory they would govern over.
The Valdenci's got the top half of North America. Marionet got all of South America. The Edwards Family got the bottom half of North America. Kingston acquired the whole of Africa. Jien-Shi drew Western Europe. Rurkan took Eastern Europe and half of Russia. Ithien pulled the Middle East and India.
The Hurst Family got the other half of Russia and all of Asia, including the island territories. Niveah acquired the Oceanic region and all of its island territories.
After all was said and done, everyone was left wondering what region Okobe had drawn, and they were all thankful that they didn't have his terrible luck. He had drawn Antarctica.
Little did they know that this was what Okobe had intended all along. Despite everything seeming like pure chance and coincidence, every family and their territory had been predetermined. The only thing he couldn't control was just who fell into each family.
Okobe had secretly been working on a technology that would revolutionize everything, and as such, had taken the worst piece of land left on Earth.
Every family left that meeting satisfied with the outcome, Okobe most of all. It took some time for the news that peace had been achieved to break to the rest of the world, but once it did, everyone was shocked.
Has peace finally come? How did they do it? The world rejoiced and celebrated as one. Even this was part of Okobe's master plan. While everyone was celebrating the good news, the Families took their respective spots on the globe and silently took control. Within a week, everyone was where they were supposed to be.
Still, there was one revelation that was yet to shake the world. Okobe unveiled his technology the day he turned it on. A massive terraforming machine. It tore down and reshaped the Arctic landscape on a scale never seen before, and the once ice-filled tundra turned into a utopia of green.
Lush fields, massive forests and towering mountains became Okobe's new land, and Antarctica officially became the Continent of Adea. Everyone who had once dreaded being part of the Okobe Family rejoiced at the turn of events, they had a new untapped territory to rule over.
The rest of the Families now realized they had been played, but there was nothing they could do about it now. They were stuck with their cramped territory all while Okobe had a massive isolated territory to do as he wished.
In spite of the slight betrayal by Okobe, the peace held. No one wanted to be the one to go back on their word and cause another cataclysmic war. Every territory governed itself however it wished, but one thing remained commonplace in each of them.
The rich and powerful only grew more so, while the poor and weak were left with scraps. Those who couldn't fend for themselves turned to servitude of the higher ranking members just to survive. The only outlier was the territory of Adea. Everyone had everything they could ever need, there were no poor people. It truly was a utopia and land of equality.
Occasional arguments over territory would be had between Families, but for the most part, they all kept to themselves. They were content to grow their wealth and power, and then lord it over those less fortunate.
Every territory had its own distinction and thing that it was known best for, but none of them could truly compete with the territory of Adea. It was a true powerhouse, and everyone feared that Okobe would one day come back to the mainlands to conquer everyone.
With such thoughts in their minds, the heads of each family formed alliances with one another. Ithien, Rurkan and Kingston formed one. Valdenci, Jien-Shi and Niveah formed another, while Marionet, Edwards and Hurst formed the last.
Time continued to run, and technology continued to advance. Okobe still held on to the secret of the terraforming machine, but every Family had caught up in every other aspect of technology.
Massive high rise towers were built over the rubble and ruins of once destroyed cities, hover-craft became the means of travel for only the most wealthy of individuals. Supercomputer AIs became commonplace and took the jobs of many who relied on them for survival.
The gap between those who had and those who didn't only grew further, and more people entered into servitude. In fact, it's more rare to find someone who isn't a servant than it is to find a diamond.
Families would squabble and change their high ranking members every ten years per the Accords, but the Head of the Family always remained the same person until their death. They would only name the heir on their deathbed, and every important family member had to be there to witness it.
Only two families have changed Heads in this timeframe, James Hurst and Finley Kingston both passed on from the world, but their legacy is carried on by the newly appointed leaders.
Such is the way of the world up to the current year of 2064. An age of peace had truly come for the war weary world.
Unbeknownst to Earth, its age of peace and technology was slowly bringing it closer to meeting the requirements to officially become a realm that the gods would fight over.
On Earth, Okobe might be considered a hero and a savior of the human race, but in all reality, he had doomed them.
Fate had intentionally stepped in at the last second of Alex's rebirth and created Argus.
She whispered the secrets of the universe into various members' ears, and helped them design the game that would become War of the Realms: Online. She even went as far as ensuring one of them developed the blueprints for full-dive technology.
Due to her meddling, Argus is a current and rising company that has the Families on edge. No such corporation has existed since the war, and with its monopoly on VR technology, it only grows in wealth.
Despite their concerns, the families could never find where the HQ of Argus was located, or how they seemed to operate in the shadows. No one but Fate and members of Argus itself knew those things.
Interfering in such a way with Alex and Earth as a whole has sped up the rate at which it will be integrated into the universe of realms, but humanity will stand a chance of survival when that day comes. And it will come, for no one is safe from Jaskiar and his insatiable hunger for power.