In my WIP Sworfist (all the characters are dragons), a thief named Daktarash sells a sword to the emperor, Zarakharn, and steals a crystal from him. Daktarash heads to an employer's to pay off a debt, but the employer, a crime lord named Kharda, is Zarakharn's cousin and sells Daktarash out. Zarakharn takes Daktarash back to the palace and interrogates him in the dungeon. He kills Daktarash in a fit of rage when he learns that Daktarash not only lost the crystal while flying to Kharda's but is working with a spy in the police force who hired him to steal the crystal in the first place. Zarakharn puts out a reward for the crystal's return, secretly intending to kill whoever has it. The news of the sizable reward spreads far, fast. Some people who are after it are: -Zarakharn himself, the main antagonist. Not only does the crystal belong to him but it is magic and keeps him immortal. If it were destroyed he would die instantly. Zarakharn is secretly a dark wizard. -Kharrin, the chief inquisitor, whose other objective is to root out the spy. He is doing this in Zarakharn's service. -Assirratan, the spy who hired Daktarash. Assirratan belongs to a mysterious group called the Shazarians, consisting (as far as the reader knows) of two others, Kazar and Drazarkhi. They are stalking the protagonists. Their intentions are unclear to the reader until their true identities are revealed, but they are actually trying to protect the protagonists. Also, the Shazarians are all secretly wizards, like Zarakharn. -Ginzaekh, the protagonist, and his friends Ash and Gazi. They are the ones who actually find the crystal and decide to return it. Ginzaekh is at first skeptical-- what's to stop the emperor from thinking they stole the crystal in the first place just so they could return it for money? However, when the police assist them in returning the crystal-- they themselves not allowed to be entrusted with it-- Ginzaekh changes his mind. They need the money anyway-- their families aren't the richest and could use the money. -Sar Argandi, a terrorist who has recently escaped. He is part of the organization that Assirratan belongs to, but went rogue. Sar has a vendetta against Zarakharn for killing his daughter and has thus declared war on all the government even though only Zarakharn is the organization's enemy. He was taken by the Shazarians after he murdered an entire police squadron to stop him from harming more innocents and receiving the death penalty his actions have warranted by the law. Sar is after the crystal because he, like the other Shazarians, knows the crystal's destruction is the only way to kill Zarakharn. He doesn't care about collateral damage, so he poses a danger to the protagonists and antagonists alike. Not only that but as a violent and feared terrorist, his sudden reemergence throws the police force into disarray as he becomes one problem too many to juggle. -Vizagar, a petty thief who finds out Ginzaekh has the crystal and tries to steal it, stalking them in order to take it, but is thwarted at nearly every turn by Assirratan. He is killed halfway through the book. He is fairly minor and doesn't pose as much of a threat as the others, but he's there to show it's not just the powers that be that are after the crystal, it's every unsavory character who's learned of the reward. -Nark, a policeman who finds the crystal when Assirratan leaves it at the police station for Kazar to pick up. (Assirratan is carrying a fake one, as he is now traveling with the protagonists and doesn't want them to return the real thing.) Nark takes the crystal, resigns from his job and brings the crystal to Zarakharn, unaware of what's going on. He's very minor and he's just there to throw another wrench in the works toward the end when things are building to the climax. But the antagonist I created this thread for is Kharda. I feel he should have a larger role. He may not be a great threat in person, but I want his arm to be grasping for the crystal as well. Kharda is a wealthy old dragon who runs several underground operations to which Zarakharn turns a blind eye to out of nepotism. Any form of hedonism a dragon might enjoy, Kharda indulges in excessively. Literally sleeps on a pile of gold (dragons don't do that in my universe so Kharda is really flaunting his wealth here. And since gold is hard and Kharda's joints need to be comfortable at all times, he has several fine blankets draped over it. He might as well dump a gallon of whipped cream on it and put a cherry on top while he's at it.) His mansion sticks out more than the governor's and it's almost as fine as the imperial palace (except it's smaller, has a completely different architectural design, and the outside looks nicer than just stone bricks.) So that's basically Kharda. He's very powerful and the people hate him and wish the governors would do something about him-- but nobody wants a price on their heads. What I want Kharda to do is charge every bounty hunter in his employ to find the crystal. What I'm having trouble with is why. He's already rich; does he just want more money? What more reward and privilege could Zarakharn give him? Or is Kharda just looking out for his cousin? In that case, why bother sending out your bounty hunters and asking them to bring you the crystal when they could just bring it to Zarakharn? Kharda's certainly not going to try and keep the crystal for himself; Daktarash already made that mistake (as far as Kharda knows.) He knows how much hot water he'd be in if he did that. Zarakharn would forget any kinship they had and execute him. I really want Kharda to play a larger role and I can't seem to it out.
If money is not motivating him, maybe it is just keeping in Zarakarn's good side for the sake of preserving his lifestyle. If he makes a show of sending out his men to hunt down the crystal, then it can create a "scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" sort of deal between them.
That seems like a good motivation. It's not as though Kharda and Zarakharn aren't already on friendly terms, though.
Then this can be a showcase of the two being on good terms. Any kind of accord needs deeds to maintain it, so there could be a scene where Kharda assures Zarakarn that his bounty hunters are scouring the land.
S A Lee made a fantastic suggestion that I can't improve on, but I do want to make a suggestion for you when you post these questions. When you post a question you post a BIG piece of background information, which makes reading to the question intimidating and time consuming, which in return gives you fewer answers. So here's my suggestion: When you need to ask a question on the forum, write it all out like you normally do, then look through and try to find the "meat" of the question. Pretend you're writing a summary of the question and background to the question and see if you can get it done in one reasonable-sized paragraph, like this one. Really, the only information we need to know (keep in mind we can always ask for more if we feel it's necessary) is this: "In my WIP Sworfist (all the characters are dragons), a thief named Daktarash sells a sword to the emperor steals a crystal from the emperor, Zarakharn. Daktarash heads to an employer's to pay off a debt, but the employer, a crime lord named Kharda, is Zarakharn's cousin and sells Daktarash out. Zarakharn takes Daktarash back to the palace and interrogates him in the dungeon. He kills Daktarash in a fit of rage when he learns that Daktarash not only lost the crystal while flying to Kharda's but is working with a spy in the police force who hired him to steal the crystal in the first place. But the antagonist I created this thread for is Kharda. I feel he should have a larger role. He may not be a great threat in person, but I want his arm to be grasping for the crystal as well. Kharda is a wealthy old dragon who runs several underground operations to which Zarakharn turns a blind eye to out of nepotism. Any form of hedonism a dragon might enjoy, Kharda indulges in excessively. Literally sleeps on a pile of gold (dragons don't do that in my universe so Kharda is really flaunting his wealth here. And since gold is hard and Kharda's joints need to be comfortable at all times, he has several fine blankets draped over it. He might as well dump a gallon of whipped cream on it and put a cherry on top while he's at it.) His mansion sticks out more than the governor's and it's almost as fine as the imperial palace (except it's smaller, has a completely different architectural design, and the outside looks nicer than just stone bricks.) So that's basically Kharda. He's very powerful and the people hate him and wish the governors would do something about him-- but nobody wants a price on their heads. What I want Kharda to do is charge every bounty hunter in his employ to find the crystal. What I'm having trouble with is why. He's already rich; does he just want more money? What more reward and privilege could Zarakharn give him? Or is Kharda just looking out for his cousin? In that case, why bother sending out your bounty hunters and asking them to bring you the crystal when they could just bring it to Zarakharn? Kharda's certainly not going to try and keep the crystal for himself; Daktarash already made that mistake (as far as Kharda knows.) He knows how much hot water he'd be in if he did that. Zarakharn would forget any kinship they had and execute him. I really want Kharda to play a larger role and I can't seem to it out." By keeping the information relevant and short, more people will be able to quickly get the information they need to answer the question.
