Tartuk is a purple skinned kobold trained as an arcanist who recently took over control of the Sootscale Kobolds. Under his leadership, the kobolds have engaged in an increasingly deadly war with a nearby tribe of mites. There are indications; however, that not all of the kobolds in the Sootscale tribe are happy with his leadership and that some may be planning a coup.

After the party defeated Tartuk and his eidolon, they discovered his journal and learned much about his previous life. Tartuk had originally been a gnome with purple hair. When his village was attacked by giants, Tartuk tried to surrender to the giants but was stepped on by one of them, causing a small explosion when one of his wands was broken. This killed him, but also killed the leader of the giants, leading the giants to retreat and abandon the attack on the village. The village in gratitude pooled their resources and were able to get a druid to cast reincarnate on him, bringing him back to life as a kobold.

Tartuk never took to his new form and grew increasingly depressed. His depression only lessened by the occasional mischief he could cause. When he arrived in the Greenbelt, he soon found the Sootscale kobolds and convinced them that the “god” Old Sharptooth had been angered by them. He then used his magic abilities to further reinforce his trickery and soon the kobolds turned to him as leader — even when he started sacrificing kobolds to Old Sharptooth. Tartuk’s journal revealed that he stoked the rivalry between the kobolds and the mites, turning it into an all out war. His ultimate goal was to destroy both the kobolds and the mites. Ultimately, he knew his depression would eventually get the best of him and when it did he planned to use a scroll of Fly to fly straight up into the air until the spell expired, killing himself with the fall.