Bio

Tartarus was born to a human mother of a merchant family in Raam. His father was never revealed to him, and was only referred to as a roaming gypsy trader in the elven caravans. As a half-elf, Tartarus received little love from his human kinfolk. Since he was his mother’s only child, the family allowed her to raise him, as long as he was kept out of sight. As Tartarus grew, he increasingly became aware of how much he was out of place and began to question his future in the house. On his 15th birthday, when others of his family would be fully inducted into the merchant trade, his family finally told him that he would never be a house member. He had two options: to live as a slave for the house, or to leave with nothing to find his own way. Tartarus chose the latter. In his mind, he had always wondered about his father, and was envious of the travels and adventures that he must have as part of a caravan. He set out to find this elusive specter of his past, and had high hopes of making a place for himself among the other half of his people. Unfortunately, life came down hard on Tartarus. With no money and little skills, he had to take the most menial jobs with other caravans to travel through the wastes. He spent four years traveling from city to city across Athas, until finally he heard tale of his father’s own caravan. Ten years ago, the caravan had returned to Raam, but could not afford to pay the tariffs of Abalach-Re, and tried to fool the templars that came to collect the money. To make an example of them, the templars executed all the men of the caravan, and sent the women and children into slavery. When Tartarus heard this news, he was grief-stricken. He knew of nothing else to live for. He started walking out into the desert of Athas, hoping to be struck down by some dreadful creature, if the heat didn’t get him first. He wondered for five days, and was on the brink of death, collapsing in the dust. Unbeknownst to him, several Genasi had been following him, intrigued by a lone traveler following no route and with little provisions. When Tartarus awoke, he found himself in a small Genasi village, his life preserved by strangers. As Tartarus recovered, the Genasi spoke to him of Athas, of the land, the wind, the wild animals. Tartarus found that he had some natural ability in calling on the elements around him, shaping them and infusing himself with their aspects. From the Genasi, Tartarus inherited a reverence for the natural world, and saw the Sorcerer-Kings as invaders and defilers of Athas. After fundamental training, Tartarus decided to return to Raam with another purpose: to use his primal powers to overthrow Raam’s monarch both for vengeance of losing his family and for the desecration of Athas.