Many know of the forest belonging to the Ranger God of Protection. Fewer know of what exactly that forest protects. Trees almost as old as time, flora and fauna running wild, and somewhere in the middle of it, a beautiful pond at the base of a waterfall produced by a nearby spring. It is a lovely place, and those who've seen it claim that the water glows at night.
This pond is where the first of three trials is said to begin, though the trial itself has lasted all your life. It is a trial that, if you pass, will reveal to you a cave behind the water, the cave that Rellick once called home. The precise criteria for passing seems never to be set in stone, however the one commonality is what earned it the name, "The Trial of Kindness." The cave is eternally lit by dim torches that do not light beyond the entrance, and these torches illuminate paintings along the walls of the caves. On the left, the story of a man who found a deer and cared for it, then went on to go on adventures with two stags by his side. On the right, stories of all sorts, left by those that complete the three trials. The right wall always seems incomplete.
Delve far enough into the cave and you will come across a partition of leather blocking a large chamber with a soft fire in the middle and the smoke streaming out a flute in the top that doesn't seem to exist unless you're in the cave. Around the fire are set logs to sit on, and bedrolls that are claimed to give the best sleep you've ever had.
On the walls of this chamber are numerous handprints, markers of completion of the second trial. An ancient inscription lines the top of the walls, reading "Here receive the mark of the Protector, and be made strong." Bowls of paint that never dry up sit at the base of the wall, and one of two things may happen if you try to leave a print. If you have not completed the trial, the paint will simply drip off and return to the bowl. However, if you have saved a creature's life, and continue to protect it, your print will remain and dry on the wall and on your hand. The Red Hand of the Protector will remain so long as you remain a protector, and will grant you perks to allow you to be stronger in your task. This trial has been affectionately coined "The Trial of the Protector."
The third trial has to do with a figure at the back of the chamber, the skeleton of a hooved animal held together in a lain down position by plants that seem to grow from the ancient skeleton itself. It's neck is raised and turned as if to face the cavern, but it lacks a skull. Before it are two such skulls, one with antlers, one without. An inscription in the same ancient text reads, "Only my first charge can call me to you." Only those who succeed in the trial know its name, "The Trial of the Mother."
One does not need to complete all three trials to be welcome in Rellick's cave, but many of his followers strive to complete all three even lacking information on them. Regardless, so long as you pass the first trial and do not fail it between visits, you may enter and take shelter in this place.
