Jory Malaky
Jory Malaky was the legendary founder of the Kingdom of Rislandia, revered by history as its First King and known by the honorific title "The Pathfinder." He led approximately 5,000 Atreblan refugees fleeing the collapsing Orethan Dominion across the treacherous mountain passage known as the Frozen Hell (also called the Westerly Spine) to discover the Iberanth Peninsula and the Crystal Spire. His reign lasted 43 years, and the dynasty and naming tradition he established endured for centuries after his death.
The Founding
Leading thousands of refugees from the collapsing Orethan Dominion, Jory discovered the Crystal Spire and recognized the power of the air crystals within. He established the settlement that would become Rislandia City, transforming a desperate refugee camp into the foundation of a thriving kingdom.
The Code of Malaky
Jory created the foundational laws of Rislandia, emphasizing duty, honor, and service. He established a system of both legacy and earned nobility—a concept considered revolutionary at the time—that allowed any citizen to rise through meritorious service to the kingdom.
Succession
Legacy
Jory Malaky died at age 68 after a 43-year reign. Every subsequent Rislandian king took the name "Malaky" in his honor, a tradition that continued through King Malaky XVI. His principles continued to guide the kingdom some 500 years after its founding. He is considered a central figure in Rislandian customs and traditions and is frequently referenced in historical education.
"We came from darkness, but we built toward light." — Jory Malaky, at the completion of the Crystal Spire
Appearances and References
In A History of Rislandia
A History of Rislandia provides the most detailed scholarly account of Jory Malaky's life, drawing on guild records, church chronicles, and oral traditions preserved by the Chronists. The sourcebook treats him as a figure straddling history and legend, and its account both expands and in several places contradicts details found elsewhere.
Early Life and Background
According to A History of Rislandia, Jory Malaky was 35 years old at the time of the Great Sundering, placing his birth approximately 35 years before that catastrophe. He had been a master within the Stonemasons' Covenant and served as second-in-command to the Granite Hand, the covenant's senior leadership. He survived the Night of Shattered Crystals only because he happened to be stationed in a distant province at the time of the disaster.
The sourcebook describes him physically as tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair streaked with gray, and notes that contemporaries remembered his eyes as unusually kind. It characterizes him as idealistic and compassionate, possessed of a brilliant engineering mind — qualities the text argues were inseparable from his later achievements as a founder.
Jory was deeply religious, adhering to a Catholic-style faith in the Great One, and this faith is presented as central to his decision-making throughout the exodus and the founding period.
Meeting Wyranth Ashenblade and the Great Gathering
The sourcebook dates Jory's pivotal meeting with Wyranth Ashenblade to approximately Year 545 (in the pre-founding reckoning), in the ruins of Aquilae. At that time Jory was already leading a group of refugees and survivors from the guild networks. The two men discovered a shared vision: rebuilding civilization on the principles of guild cooperation, church guidance, and elected leadership. Both believed that any magic, should it return, ought to be used for the common good rather than concentrated in the hands of the powerful.
Together they co-led the Great Gathering, assembling disparate refugee bands into a single exodus column. The sourcebook records that Jory consistently advocated sharing supplies and welcoming desperate stragglers from the old empire, even when resources were critically short.
The Exodus Across Oler Pass
Where the novel-based account on this page records approximately 5,000 Atreblan refugees, A History of Rislandia gives the figure as 11,000 survivors crossing Oler Pass through the Westerly Spine. The sourcebook does not reconcile this with the smaller figure and treats 11,000 as the established count.
The crossing is described in considerable detail. On Day 25, with morale collapsing under the conditions of the pass, Jory delivered a speech that the sourcebook credits with preventing the column from fragmenting. At some point during the crossing he approached a Hill Folk village alone and unarmed, accompanied only by Bishop Marcus the Faithful, to negotiate passage — an act the text presents as characteristic of his willingness to take personal risks in the service of the group. He also issued an absolute prohibition on cannibalism, which the sourcebook notes was tested by the extremity of conditions in the pass.
The von Lantern family is specifically named among those who crossed the mountains alongside Jory.
Co-Rule and the Early Settlement
On reaching the Iberanth Peninsula and discovering the Crystal Spire, Jory and Wyranth Ashenblade established joint leadership of the first settlement. The sourcebook emphasizes that Jory never sought sole authority; he consistently described himself as a servant of the people rather than a ruler, and he believed leadership should ultimately be elected or chosen by consensus.
The co-rule with Wyranth lasted through the first decade of the settlement. When Wyranth eventually departed, Jory did not pursue him. The sourcebook also records that Jory blessed the departure of Tyndri Silverveil, another of the founding figures who chose a different path.
Construction of the Crystal Spire and Rislandia City
Rather than personally constructing the Crystal Spire, A History of Rislandia records that Jory commissioned the settlement's elders to design and oversee its construction, drawing on his own deep knowledge of stonecraft from his years in the Stonemasons' Covenant. He also commissioned the elders to begin training the next generation of craftspeople and leaders.
In Year 40 of the settlement, Jory stood at the base of the completed tower and formally named it the Crystal Spire, declaring: "Here, the Great One has prepared a place for us. Here, we will build our new home." He then declared the surrounding settlement Rislandia City. The sourcebook also preserves the separately attributed quotation: "We came from darkness, but we built toward light," which it records as spoken at the tower's completion — consistent with the novel-based account on this page.
Succession and Death
According to A History of Rislandia, Jory refused the title of king throughout his life, insisting he was "a servant, nothing more." He proposed that leadership succession be determined by election, and he put forward his son Cedric Malaky as one candidate among several — not as a designated heir. The text is explicit that Jory was never formally crowned king.
Jory died peacefully in Year 42 at the age of 77, surrounded by family and friends. The entire settlement mourned for a month. He was buried beneath the Great Temple, and his burial inscription reads: "He led us through darkness into light." His son Cedric was 35 years old at the time of his father's death and subsequently became King Malaky I.
The sourcebook categorizes Jory among the Good Kings of Rislandia's history despite his never having held the title, and lists one of his epithets as "the Builder" in addition to the better-known "The Pathfinder."