Relg

**Relg** was an Ulgo religious zealot, who was absolutely devoted to his god, UL. He was also a diviner, with the ability to move through solid rock and to know where caves and other underground passages were.

When Relg was first introduced, he was a very arrogant and fanatical man, who used abusive language to the Gorim, the leader of the Ulgo. His arrogance came from the god UL's revealing to him that the next Gorim was to come through him. When the Gorim taxed him on this, saying that UL's voice resounded throughout the caves and, as such, all would have heard it, Relg quickly responded that he heard the voice in his heart. Belgarath attempted to convince Relg that he must accompany them on their journey; according to the prophecy in the Mrin Codex, he was "**The Blind Man**" and was to travel with Garion's company, but he initially refused to do this. Then, the God UL manifested and told Relg that he must go with the company and, further, that he had puffed himself up with pride after receiving his private revelation.

" I told thee that the child who will be Gorim will come to Ulgo through thee and that thou must prepare thyself to nurture him and see to his rearing" said UL to Relg in Magician's Gambit.

This, though confirming that UL did speak to Relg in his heart, also counted against Relg, for UL stated that it was his duty merely to reveal the next Gorim. Not to preach dissent against the current Gorim, whom UL had chosen to lead the Ulgos, and whom Relg should have respected and followed. UL then ordered Relg to go with Garion.

Because of this encounter, Relg became convinced that he has failed his god. He spent much of his time on the journey denouncing the sins of others or his own sins. Because he was somewhat in Garion's care, mostly because the others in the company tended to find other occupations when Relg began his harangues, Garion began to understand that much of Relg's denouncing the sins of others stemmed from his own insecurities and sins, especially his lustful thoughts for women. When Garion tried to assure him that these thoughts and feelings were normal, Relg quickly responded that his thoughts were wicked. He also disliked being touched, for fear of being contaminated. Because of living in caves his whole life, his eyes were especially sensitive to light, so that he had to wear veils over his eyes to protect them from the light of the sun. This reflected his identity in prophecy as "The Blind Man". His cave life had another consequence: a fear of the sky, which he eventually mastered.

Relg's ability to move through solid rock proved especially beneficial. When Silk was taken captive by Taur Urgas, King of the Murgos, Relg freed him by carrying him through the rock of his prison walls. Silk found this very horrifying and afterwards could not watch Relg go through rock without becoming visibly affected; he also becomes highly claustrophobic after that event.

In the caves leading to Rak Cthol, the group found an escaped slave named Taiba, a descendant of the Marags, whom they left where she was then, near a spring of water, and with some food, but promised to return to rescue her. The encounter with the Grolim Ctuchik ended with an earthquake which toppled much of Rak Cthol. This showed another facet of Relg, his compassion: he opines that Taiba has likely died in the cave in, which he says is a good thing. When Silk challenged him on the contemptible nature of this, Relg responded that dying from the cave-in would be very quick. As he explained, Taiba was in a cavern with a supply of water, but not very much food, so that she would eventually starve to death, if not rescued. However, Relg did crawl through the rock to rescue Taiba, and emerged from the rock holding her in a very protective manner, which he was loathe to quit after emerging all the way.

This experience had a profound effect on Relg, who was at once fascinated and repelled by Taiba for two reasons. The first reason was her overt sexuality; Relg could not help but be attracted to her, but he believed that this was a sin and went through periods of condemning her and himself. The second reason was the difference in opinion of religion. To Relg, religion meant self-sacrifice for one's god and avoiding sin, whereas, to Taiba, religion meant the altar and the knife in the Grolim sacrifices. Despite this, the two fell in love and marry. Their son (who has blue eyes) became the next Gorim, in accordance with UL's prophecy. When Mara is eventually told of the last of the Marags, Taiba, he states that a race cannot be replenished with just one, and that two are needed; as such, he requests of UL that Relg be given to him. UL accepts this request, but states that there is one requirement. Later, Relg and Taiba lived in Maragor, and seemed to be well on their way to repopulating it.