This is still unclear to me. The CRRG’s section on Overlord relics does not provide a clear answer (perhaps I am missing something obvious).

I am playing a fairly typical quest later today (The Baron Returns).

Each encounter has a single lieutenant:

-Encounter 1 has Eliza Farrow present

-Encounter 2 has Baron Zachareth present

I have a single relic (Shield Of Zorek’s Favor)

Since I can only equip relics at the start of a quest (not encounter), can I “equip” the shield on Zacahareth, despite him not being present during encounter 1?

Or is Eliza my only option here, since she is the only lieutenant present?

This has greater ramifications for the Finale, since it has 3 encounters and all 6 lieutenants.

Relics can be assigned to lieutenants at the start of an encounter .
If a lieutenant appears in 2 (or more) encounters of a quest, he cannot switch the relic in between encounters.

Here is a wall-of-text question and uFAQ on this:

Quote

4.2. A question about overlord relics usage. I found an answer from Justin in forums where he says that overlord have to equip lieutenants with relics during encounter setup, not during quest setup as written in the rulebook - is it actual? Considering other rulings it is fair to say that OL may equip some relic to a lieutenant in the first encounter and if that lieutenant was not defeated during it, than OL may also equip with the same relic another lieutenant in the second encounter of the same quest, does he? Or OL should bind relics to certain lieutenants? And if a lieutenant was defeated in the 1st encounter wielding one relic can OL equip him with another relic for the 2nd encounter of the same quest? Btw I think relics are not so useful for OL and current restrictions in rulings (when a lieutenant wielding a relic is defeated during a quest, the abilities of that relic are ignored for the remainder of the quest) makes it much less useful: attack/defense relics give your lieutenant only several attempts to use it, after that in most cases he is defeated, though reinforced. Being an OL for much time I can say that it is like a lottery when you make a decision whether to give a relic to a lieutenant or not, for instance: previous campaign in the first encounter of "The Man Who Would Be King" I gave Splig relic Shield of Zorec just in case, because I was pretty sure that heroes won't win, but at the very end my heroes decided to make a try (what do they lose after all?!) and managed to defeat Splig in 1 or 2 attacks from a huge distance - now I play again as OL and I have 4 relics, 3 of which I won't use in the 1st encounter of the final because of risk to lose them for the 2nd encounter. Finally, in my opinion relics as a reward for heroes and OL are not of equal worth... What do you think?)

Yes, you may equip lieutenant relics during encounter setup. No, relics may not be unequipped and/or re-equipped between encounters. That is, if Sir Alric Farrow has the Shield of Zorek’s Favor in Encounter 1, it could not be switched to the Duskblade in encounter 2, nor could the Shield of Zorek’s favor be given to Lord Merick Farrow. If the lieutenant was defeated in encounter 1, the effects of the equipped relic are ignored but that relic is not unequipped, so between encounters the overlord could not equip that lieutenant with a new relic.

That’s what I must have been missing. Thank you very much!