The Elector Counts

Now see, Spirit Street is the only way between here and Othersphere. And anyone can get to Spirit Street. Most people get there without realising. It's easy enough to do. You know when you feel low, like you can't ever get back up, like you don't wanna move and you couldn't feel worse? You just gotta feel a little lower and then you're there. It doesn't feel like anything special, completely the opposite. But so many people spend so much time there without knowing it's a passage to the Othersphere.
The Othersphere is a lot of things and one of those is the home of the Elector Counts. There are hundreds of them, each being equal, but each being more than you or me. Their titles are hereditary, passed through the Father. The usual tactic is for the incumbent Count to sire as many spawn as possible ensuring they'll spend too much time fighting each other to turn their attentions on him. Only a sole surviving heir can become the next Count and through the gennermachs each Count can clearly identify their progeny, meaning a complete lack of fidelity.
Anyway, the Elector Counts are the true rulers. These guys are the shadowy figures that make the decisions that control the world, an easy trick when you don't exist.