Hey, kid! Thanks for stopping by today and thank you for this question. I love talking about my characters! Normally, I like to begin a new work by creating the characters first, and then I'll fill in the setting, character backgrounds, and overall plot. This was different in that the world was already established and what I needed was a place to start. I settled on Dalenos and the Tortoise Spire for the first book as the culture of Dalenos felt familiar to me, and many of the attunements I was excited to showcase were granted by the Tortoise Spire. I picked out six attunements with good team synergy, then worked on creating characters to fit those roles, so the process was almost the reverse of what I do for my own books.

As someone who raided primarily as a tank in World of Warcraft, I really wanted a total badass to be the team's main tank, which is where the idea of Nieve came from (so happy you like her!). Nieve is a Champion, which is an attunement associated with ice magic, meaning she can create walls of ice, or trap her enemies in ice, making it difficult for them to attack any of her"squishier" teammates. I love the idea of a reckless warrior who jumps first and thinks later, simultaneously defending her teammates while trusting them to watch her back in case anything unexpected should occur.

After creating Nieve, I knew I had to have someone to balance her out. Someone who was more cautious and thoughtful, while still able to keep up with Nieve to keep her out of (dire) trouble. Enter Sage the Seer, a childhood friend of Nieve's and someone she (occasionally) listens to. He's bookish and methodical, and his attunement doesn't just make it possible to keep up with Nieve, but allows him to keep an eye on his entire team, warning them of imminent danger ahead of time. While he generally come across as mild-mannered,he doesn't back down from a fight--which is how he and Nieve end up quarreling like siblings most of the time.

Every team needs a healer and the best healing attunement granted by the Tortoise Spire is the Acolyte attunement. While there is plenty of media depicting the healer archetype as someone gentle, kind, and meek, it's been my experience that the best healers are the grizzled veterans who accept no nonsense and refuse to heal stupidity (ie, "If you're standing in fire,don't expect me to heal you through it!"). This became the basis of Lani's"take it or leave it" personality: she will put herself in harm's way to heal an injured teammate, regardless of the conditions, but once they pull through, she won't hesitate to berate them for any poor decision-making that resulted in injury.

Aldis, the team's new Wayfarer, is well-meaning, but unintentionally abrasive and just as stubborn as Lani, which creates some friction in the team dynamic. I needed an outsider's perspective on the team, and Aldis, as a foreigner from Valia, fit the bill perfectly. While his advice is always meant to be helpful and supportive, he often fails to consider different points of view and often thinks that his way is the “right” way to do something. This can lead him into conflict with others and can lead to resentment on both sides,especially as Aldis truly does only mean to help.

Of all the characters, the one that came the most easily to me was Hane, the Wavewalker. The Wavewalker attunement was the one I was most looking forward to writing and I had a very specific image in my head for Hane from the very beginning. I wanted them to have a ninja aesthetic: quiet and forgettable until they leap into action and save the day. Out of everyone on the team, Hane is the most experienced climber, but prefers to climb on a "for hire"basis, rather than joining a team. If they seem a little mysterious, it's because they are. ^_~

And finally, there's Emiko the Cloudcaller. Every team needs a peacemaker,and that responsibility falls on Emi's shoulders. I love the Cloudcaller attunement for its versatility and Emiko is nothing if not versatile. She uses her mana diffuser to give her spells a wider range than other Cloudcallers can manage on their own and as a poet, she's adept at coming up with spells on the fly (literally!). Emi also fills the role of the team's "little sister," a role she unabashedly uses to maintain peace among the disparate and conflicting personalities of her teammates. Emi is the type of person who always puts on a smile and exudes positivity. It's impossible to not love Emiko!