The Ultimate Vampire Resource and Directory

In the first episode, the Sterling family (Hal, June, Trace, Gina, Smith) take a tour of the interior of the Great Pyramid of Giza at the same time as a once-in-ten-thousand-years conjunction of the planets. Inside, they are abandoned by their guide, and as they try to get out, they are mysteriously transported to a parallel universe Earth.

On this Earth (called 'Thel'), there are no familiar countries or states. The area they are in is divided up into self-contained "Zones," each with a wildly different style of government and way of life, although the province of "Imar" (ruled by a Praetor) appears to be the central seat of government for this entire Earth. Most of Thel's history is not revealed, although the pilot episode contains references to 'territories' android creators and 'wars of unification'.