Utalu rules as the Zolian Empire's viceroy over occupied Aquafa, governing with an iron grip to maintain imperial control and ruthlessly exploit resources like the salt mines worked by prisoners such as Van. He oversees garrisons and manages all imperial interests in the territory.

Sustaining a critical injury from plague-infected dogs during a falconry expedition – a biological attack orchestrated by the Aquafan king – Utalu develops severe gangrene. He forces the Aquafan vizier Tohlim to degrade himself by licking the wound clean, a brutal symbol of Zolian dominance and Utalu's contempt.

Convinced the mittsual plague (Black Wolf Fever) targets only Zolians and learning Van survived it, Utalu becomes obsessed with capturing him. He believes Van's blood holds the key to a vaccine, crucial for protecting imperial citizens, driving him to deploy the physician Hohsalle and the tracker Sae in pursuit across Aquafa.

Utalu's actions embody the Zolian Empire's strategies of oppression and medical exploitation, prioritizing Zolian lives above Aquafan autonomy through his hunt for Van. However, evidence of a new plague strain capable of infecting both populations challenges his core assumption of its exclusivity.