Zartan was a wealthy businessman and scientist whose experiments with a unique type of underground radiation had scarred the right side of his face, partially turning it to stone. Due to his vanity, Zartan considered himself ugly and subsequently spent all of his time and money trying to discover the source of the radiation. Ultimately he did when his drilling crews discovered a vast subterranean city where all of the occupants were turned to stone by energy given off by large crystals.