Can't say I have any straight-up go-to advice for you. I spent a good year (off and on) working out the construction of the universe my book series is going to reside in. It's still changing too.

I suppose the first thing I'd consider is how much each has to be represented. You say you have characters for about half these schools. Will the story work just fine if you only give those six a significant amount of focus. Will keeping the other half more in the background and/or less prominent hurt your story in any way? Will this be a series or will there be a sequel to explore these in more depth at a later date?

Takuma Nuva

I would go with six as predominate features, perhaps starting with one and working out to the others as the plot allows. Leave the other six in the background until you need them. Thereby allowing yourself the tools and establishing that this world isn't small. But that's just me.

I don't think it would hurt the story for them to be less prominent, no. The hard part will be getting myself to do that, since I want to give them all some spotlight. Haven't decided on a sequel yet, but it's possible--though if I did, the "reincarnation"-esque mechanic I have in place would prompt me to use a different generation of Queens. They would have mostly the same personalities, though...

Yeah, that should probably be doable. I've already decided on a main character from the group, so I'll make myself stick to that and try not to get too crazy with shifting viewpoints.

Could you focus on 4-6 of them, but still have the other 6-8 schools and queens being referenced in the story?

I was thinking something along those lines. A threat to the Queens is going to become apparent and, after they all gather and discuss how they want to react, several of them are going to relocate so that they can have more power centered in one place. I also want to show how the other Queens, who are doing things on their own, will be reacting to what they have to face, and I thought that maybe I would have a chapter or two from each of their points of view. I was also thinking that, whatever the endgame might be, it would probably end up involving all 12 of them, though I'm not entirely sure how to do that.

I really do need to work on a proper outline...

Suggestion?

I don't know, but the character section might help you establish the queens a bit.

Huh, I'm guessing this will tie into "Despair of the Divine" somehow?

But yes, I suspect that a smaller group of central characters will probably serve the story better and be easier for your audience to relate to. While I can think of some successful book series with large casts that get equal emphasis, those usually took a lot of setup and careful differentiation to keep the characters from blending together. Looking forward to it, assuming you'll be posting it online.

Hm, I might give that method a try, but logic isn't really my strong suit...

Yes, Despair of the Divine is related. That was me attempting to detail an event that drives the relationships between three of the Queens for many years leading up to the timeframe I want to set the main story in. The idea as a whole really started with Recluse's Dilemma; when I took my Fiction Writing class last semester, I rewrote it and expanded upon the "video game" story, and ended up getting sucked into that. Then I wrote two shot stories setting up the Queens, the conflict, and how they're dealing with it. I have them up on my Tumblr (and I'm still hesitant to link to my Tumblr), but with some editing, I might consider posting them in OTC.