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 it's 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 snow capped 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 it's 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 Ternion's 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 energy of a specific school of magic. Adventurers searching for tools to combat Gellidus re-discovered 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 afterwards.
In the Third Bastion, the organizational structure changed to allow more than three concurrent Sentinels. No list of those Sentinels is known.
References[]
- The Medusa Plague (Novel), p.3-8, 27, 53-67, 86-92, 188, 195, 199, 245, 306-311
- The Seventh Sentinel (Novel), p.153-159
- Price of Courage, p.101