Help! I've got too many characters in my head!

As you know, I'm working on the third, and final, book in the Kailmeyra series, The Heart of the Ancients. I'm loving where the storyline is going, but I'm at a bit of a crossroads because there are so many characters that keep popping in my head.

Honestly, books that throw people at you like candy at a kid on fat Tuesday annoy me to no end. And so, I always try to hone in on the most important secondary characters. If we need more people in the scene, I put them there with minimal description so the readers doesn't have to remember their name, what they look like, etc. I might have a trait diagram of those characters tucked away somewhere, but unless they drive the story forward, the reader will never know.

It's part of the writer's curse, really. We love every voice in our head; we want the reader to love them too. But when the room becomes too crowded, the storyline suffers.

And now I have a decision to make: which ones to flesh out and which ones to allow to fall by the wayside.

This is where you come in. I need a bit of feedback. And no, before someone emails me with a scathing letter telling me to quit killing the people they love, I'm not looking for direction at who might die in the third book, I'm looking for which group would you like to see more of. Who interests you most?

Please follow the arrow to the poll I've put on the sidebar.  It'll be up all week. I'd love to hear what you think!