Partway through the writing of Graceling, I made up a scene in which Po tells Katsa the story of King Leck. Leck came to court as a child, Po said, from no one knew where, begging for food. “The servants took him in," Po said, "for he told such wonderful stories—wild stories about a place beyond the seven kingdoms, where monsters come out of the sea and air, and armies burst out of holes in the mountains, and the people are different from anyone we’ve ever known.”

At the time I wrote this, it was just a throwaway line. Leck needed to be telling stories about something, so why not monsters and armies? But then, the line began to poke and nag at me. I found myself thinking, hang on, what are these monsters, anyway? How can armies burst out of holes in mountains?

The world of the Dells, where colorful creatures control minds and mesmerize humans with their beauty, and where armies ride horses through underground tunnels, started to grow in my mind. Eventually, it grew so big that I had to write it!