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#Post#: 1090--------------------------------------------------
The Bastions of High Sorcery
By: Dungeon Master Date: April 12, 2025, 9:40 am
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The Bastion is the name for a series of fortresses that prevent
passage to the Lost Citadel from Krynn. The Orders of High
Sorcery designed and built the fortresses.
Before Bastion
The Lost Citadel was closed to mortals at the end of the Second
Dragon War in 2645 PC. After that, access to the demiplane was
controlled by a sort of arcane puzzle. Gates could only be
opened on the Night of the Eye. The gate could only be opened at
one of the magical sites where the demiplane was anchored to the
world. However, each Night of the Eye would only allow access
through one of the twelve gates. There was a specific spell for
opening the gate that was either unknown or lost to history.
Around 750 PC, the Renegade Wizard Harz-Takta the Senseless
deciphered the code to determine which site would allow a gate
on which date. They devised a spell to open the gate. They
recorded all of this in a spellbook before attempting to enter
the Lost Citadel and were never heard from again.
Slightly before 339 AC, Master of the Red Robes Belize recovered
the spellbook. Using Fistandantilus's book on interdimensional
portals, Observations on the Structure of Reality, he improved
the method and opened a portal. He was stopped before entering
the portal. The gods of magic decided then that a different
method of restricting access was needed.
First Bastion
The first Bastion was a fortress set in its own demiplane was
was linked to the Plane of Shadow. It was originally designed to
prevent passage to the Lost Citadel. After its creation, a gate
to the Lost Citadel could only be opened inside Bastion. The
fortress was designed by the Masters of the Orders of High
Sorcery, and it had three different wings, one for each of the
orders. The white wing was constructed of porcelain and built to
resemble the marble Palace of Palanthas. The black wing is a
collection of unconnected rooms of onyx. The red wing was a more
practical home of red granite, similar to Justarius’s villa. The
red and black wings had seven rooms, and the white wing was one
enormous room. Each wing had a number of spires and buttresses.
The fortress was constructed in the Kharolis Mountains. The
Council of Three finished the construction by covering the
outside with runes and sigils that would allow the
three-dimensional structure to be moved to a two-dimensional
demiplane. The specific demiplane was in the horizon, literally
in between the sky and the land.
The black wing was built by stone golems and xorns, whilst the
red wing was built from granite mined by stone giants and Daewar
dwarves. The mortar of the fortress was magically fortified with
the essence of every wizard who participated in the raising of
Bastion.
The building was governed by three wizards, one of each order,
at any one time. In the case that Bastion ever fell, it was
designed so that all the magical energy would go to Solinari,
Lunitari, and Nuitari. The fortress was guarded by a large gate,
hellhounds sent by the black robes, and gargoyles in the inner
court courtesy of the red robes. A ki-rin also guarded the
planes near Bastion and the surrounding demiplane, constantly on
the lookout for intruders.
The three governing wizards all took a turn at the scrying
diorama, from which they monitored Bastion and the surrounding
demiplane to ensure no breaches had occurred. However, in 346
AC, the mage Lyim Rhistadt managed to enter Bastion and then
breach the demiplane of the Lost Citadel. In response, the gods
of magic destroyed Bastion since it failed its purpose of
protecting the Lost Citadel.
Second Bastion
In the following years, a second Bastion was built in the
Khalkist Mountains, which was raised as a truly cooperative
effort between the three orders of High Sorcery and was designed
to serve as an early warning system of those accessing the Lost
Citadel, rather than an actual obstacle.
The new Bastion, from outside, was a solid block of mirror on a
cliffside somewhere in the snowcapped Khalkist Mountain Range.
It was a solid piece, and doorways were opened magically. The
interior was enchanted to appear as a pleasant place for each
person who enters it; Each person would see their own version of
the interior.
The second Bastion fortress operated into the War of the Lance.
It was not very effective during the war since so many black
robed mages allied with Takhisis. Dragon Emperor Ariakas invaded
Bastion and destroyed it.
Third Bastion
After the Blue Lady's War, a third Bastion was created. It used
the demiplane and the ruins of the first Bastion in its
construction. It was never fully finished. The new structure
floated in the Grey. It had a large outer ring (the Outer
Coronet) with a concourse connecting the Ternions. The three
Ternions were building-like structures that housed each Order's
wizards. The Ternions reached into the central area inside the
ring. The Inner Coronet could be brought into phase so that it
was a central structure connecting the three Ternions. The
important rooms of Bastion were in the Inner Coronet. The entire
structure was designed to house many more wizards than the
previous Bastions.
The organizational structure was changed but is not documented.
Multiple Sentinels were present for each order, and ongoing
research was performed there.
Even though incomplete, it was active, and many wizards worked
there. It was used for Justarius to attack Storm's Keep to stop
the Thorn Knights.
After the Chaos War, the Bastion was assumed lost, but it had
traveled with Krynn when the world was stolen. In the process,
it was over-run with Xill, who took over the fortress. The xill
captured at least 5 wizards and dozens of hapless adventurers,
using most of them to incubate xill eggs. Bastion remained
anchored to Krynn at five points on Ansalon. Gates could be
opened in those locations by using the energy of a specific
school of magic. Adventurers searching for tools to combat
Gellidus rediscovered Bastion with the help of Gilthanas and
defeated the xill.
Sentinels
In the First Bastion, one member of each Order was appointed to
guard Bastion, and they served as equals. They were given the
name Sentinels. The first three Sentinels were Ezius the White,
Vilar the Red, and an unnamed black robed wizard. The isolation
of the Bastion was difficult to endure for many. The first to
step down was the black robe, who was replaced by a fourth
Sentinel, Dagamier. Later, Vilar left and was replaced by a
fifth Sentinel, Guerrand DiThon. At that time, the Heads of the
Orders decided to create the role of High Defender to serve as a
leader. Guerrand was appointed High Defender.
After the destruction of the First Bastion, Guerrand resigned,
and Dagamier was promoted to High Defender. The red robe Feldner
became the sixth Sentinel. When the Second Bastion was built, it
tracked down Lyim and provided intelligence on how to
assassinate the renegade. Guerrand and his nephew Bram DiThon
attempted the assassination. Dagamier began referring to Bram as
the Seventh Sentinel. It's unknown if he formally became a
Sentinel afterward.
In the Third Bastion, the organizational structure changed to
allow more than three concurrent Sentinels. No list of those
Sentinels is known.
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