King Malaky VII
King Malaky VII, commonly styled Malaky VII the Jealous, was a monarch of the Malaky Dynasty and son of King Malaky VI. According to A History of Rislandia, he is remembered as Rislandia's worst king—"a tyrant whose paranoia and cruelty left scars that lasted centuries." His reign, spanning Year 221 to Year 259, was defined by the systematic destruction of religious authority, the humiliation of the nobility, and an ever-deepening paranoia that consumed his court until his death.
Overview
According to A History of Rislandia, Malaky VII succeeded his father King Malaky VI and reigned for thirty-eight years. He was described as paranoid, vindictive, intelligent, insecure, and cruel. He saw conspiracies everywhere, held grudges for decades, and was cunning and manipulative. Despite holding absolute power, he felt unloved and disrespected, and he enjoyed humiliating those he perceived as enemies. The sourcebook categorises him unambiguously as the worst king of the dynasty by far.
Early Reign (Years 221–230)
The first decade of Malaky VII's reign was, by the account of A History of Rislandia, relatively unremarkable. He continued the policies of his father and gave little outward sign of the upheaval to come. During this period he began to resent the influence of the Church of the Great One, though open conflict had not yet erupted.
Suppression of the Church (Years 231–235)
A History of Rislandia identifies the religious suppression as the defining turning point of Malaky VII's reign, labelling it "THE TURNING POINT" in its text. The crisis was precipitated when High Priest Benedictus III delivered a sermon that Malaky VII took as a personal attack. The king demanded that the Church swear absolute loyalty to the throne.
When that demand was not met to his satisfaction, Malaky VII issued the Edict of Suppression in Year 231. He then arrested Benedictus III and senior church leaders during what A History of Rislandia records as the Purge, which lasted from Year 231 to Year 235. Temples were repurposed as government buildings, and religious holidays were remade into state festivals honouring the Malaky Dynasty. Religious authority was replaced with civic loyalty, and Malaky VII positioned himself as the ultimate moral authority in the kingdom.
The sourcebook notes that the suppression of the Church of the Great One was conducted in Rislandia City from Year 285 to Year 312. This dating conflicts with the reign dates given elsewhere in the same sourcebook (Years 221–259), which place the Edict of Suppression in Year 231 and the Purge in Years 231–235.
The Noble Conspiracy and the Edict of Ridicule (Years 240–242)
According to A History of Rislandia, noble conspirators moved against Malaky VII around Year 240. The king's response was characteristically vindictive. He issued the Edict of Ridicule in Year 241, forcing noble conspirators to change their surnames to ridiculous names. The sourcebook preserves his words on the matter: "The conspirators sought to make mockery of their king. Therefore, their names shall be mockery to all who hear them."
Among the families affected were the ancestors of the Von Monocle Family and the Du Gearsmith Family, the latter having been originally minor nobles caught up in the conspiracy. From Year 242, nobles were additionally required to wear absurd court dress, as recorded on the Court Dress Code (Year 242) page. Primary conspirators were imprisoned in the dungeons of the Crystal Spire. Through these measures, Malaky VII reduced the nobility to a purely decorative role.
Final Years and Death (Years 246–259)
According to A History of Rislandia, Malaky VII's paranoia worsened markedly in the final years of his reign. He purged more advisors, increased surveillance across the kingdom, and banned public gatherings. He had no surviving children at the time of his death; his son had died young, possibly poisoned by enemies.
Malaky VII died at the age of seventy-six in Year 259, officially of natural causes following a feast. A History of Rislandia notes that unofficial accounts held he was poisoned, a matter treated separately on the The Poisoning (Death of Malaky VII) page.
Legacy
Malaky VII's suppression of the Church of the Great One made Rislandia a secular kingdom, and his replacement of religious teachings with civic mythology centred on the Malaky Dynasty shaped Rislandian society for generations. According to A History of Rislandia, his legacy defines Rislandia as a secular society to the present day of the novels. The noble surnames he imposed as punishment—including von Monocle and du Gearsmith—persisted as hereditary family names long after the original humiliation was forgotten by common memory.
The sourcebook describes him with three summary epithets: paranoid (he saw enemies everywhere), vindictive (he punished perceived slights cruelly), and selfish (he placed his ego above the kingdom).
Notes on Dating
The text of A History of Rislandia record the religious suppression as having occurred "three centuries ago" and "300 years ago" relative to the sourcebook's narrative voice. If the novels are set during the reign of King Malaky XVI, this places the suppression approximately three hundred years before that reign, broadly consistent with a reign ending in Year 259. However, the sourcebook also gives a specific site note placing the suppression in Rislandia City from Year 285 to Year 312, which falls entirely outside Malaky VII's recorded reign of Years 221–259. This discrepancy is recorded in Conflicts below and has not been silently harmonised.