Relg

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Relg is a character in David Eddings' fantasy series, The Belgariad, and its sequel, The Malloreon. He is an Ulgo religious zealot, who is absolutely devoted to his god, UL. He is also a diviner, with the ability to move through solid rock and to know where caves and other underground passages are.

When Relg is first introduced, he is a very arrogant and fanatical man, who uses abusive language to the Gorim, the leader of the Ulgo. His arrogance comes from the god UL's revealing to him that he was to find the next Gorim. When the Gorim taxes him on this, saying that UL's voice resounds throughout the caves and, as such, all would have heard it, Relg quickly responds that he heard the voice in his heart. Belgarath attempts to convince Relg that he must accompany them on their journey; according to the prophecy in the Mrin Codex, he is the Blind Man and is to travel with Garion's company, but he initially refuses to do this. Then, the God UL manifests and tells Relg that he must go with the company and, further, that he has puffed himself up with pride after receiving his private revelation. This, though confirming that UL did speak to Relg in Relg's heart, also counts against Relg, for UL states 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 orders Relg to go with Garion.

Because of this encounter, Relg becomes convinced that he has failed his god. He spends much of his time on the journey denouncing the sins of others or his own sins. Because he is somewhat in Garion's care, mostly because the others in the company tend to find other occupations when Relg begins his harangues, Garion begins to understand that much of Relg's denouncing the sins of others stems from his own insecurities and sins, especially his lustful thoughts for women. When Garion tries to assure him that these thoughts and feelings are normal, Relg quickly responds that his thoughts are wicked. He also dislikes being touched, for fear of being contaminated. Because of living in caves his whole life, his eyes are especially sensitive to light, so that he must wear veils over his eyes to protect them from the light of the sun. Hence, why he has the moniker, "Blind Man." His cave life has another consequence: a fear of the sky, which he eventually masters.

Relg's ability to move through solid rock are especially beneficial. When Silk is taken captive by Taur Urgas, King of the Murgos, Relg frees him by carrying him through the rock of his prison walls. Silk finds this very horrifying and cannot watch Relg go through rock without becoming visibly affected.

In the caves leading to Rak Cthol, the group finds an escaped slave named Taiba, a descendant of the Marags, whom they leave where she is then, near a spring of water, and with some food, but promise to return to rescue her. The encounter with the Grolim Cthuchik ends with an earthquake which topples much of Rak Cthol. This shows 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 challenges him on the contemptible nature of this, Relg responds that dying from the cave-in would be very quick. As he explains, Taiba is in a cavern with a supply of water, but not very much food, so that she would eventually starve to death, if not rescued. Relg, however, crawls through the rock and rescues Taiba, emerging from the rock and holding her in a very protective manner, which he is loathe to quit after emerging all the way. This experience has a profound effect on Relg, who is at once fascinated and repelled by Taiba for two reasons. The first reason is her overt sexuality; Relg cannot help but be attracted to her, but he believes that that is a sin and goes through periods of self-condemnation and condemning her. The second reason is the difference in opinion of religion. To Relg, religion means sacrificing oneself to one's god and avoiding sin, whereas, to Taiba, religion means the altar and the knife in the Grolim sacrifices. Despite this, the two fall in love and marry. Their son becomes the next Gorim, in accordance with UL's prophecy. His appearance in The Mallorean is much briefer, but he seems to be a much more pleasant person than he was in the first series.