This chapter details the Solar Bastion, a benevolent organization that protects the multiverse from the chaos wrought by the Deck of Many Things. The chapter includes a description of the organization and a map of its headquarters. It also explores how DMs can introduce the Solar Bastion to their campaigns, and how characters might join the Solar Bastion or otherwise become entangled in the group's operations across the multiverse.
The Solar Bastion
The Solar Bastion is an elite organization with extensive resources and a benevolent agenda. Its members style themselves as knights, though the organization doesn't grant them noble titles.
Founded by Hilarion, a solar angel, the Solar Bastion uses the sun as its symbol. Typically, this symbol is styled to evoke the Sun card in a Deck of Many Things, reflecting both the knights' origin and their mission in the multiverse. Sometimes knights wear this symbol openly on their gear, but more often they keep a sun-shaped pin hidden under a collar or lapel or carry a nonmagical copy of the Sun card to identify their allegiance when necessary.
Goals
The Solar Bastion monitors the Deck of Many Things in all its manifestations throughout the multiverse, warns and protects those who find it, and minimizes the damage it causes when found. Knights of the Solar Bastion also strive to protect people from other dangerous magic, such as cursed magic items and evil artifacts. The knights often provide aid with all sorts of magical mishaps, hauntings, and monstrous infestations.
The Solar Bastion has hundreds of members and a vast fortune, but its mission spans the multiverse, so its resources are constantly stretched thin; the Solar Bastion welcomes assistance from adventurers sympathetic to its goals.
Monitor the Deck
Most of the Solar Bastion's activity revolves around monitoring Decks of Many Things. The knights strive for the following goals in their pursuit of that effort:
Combat Curses and Wicked Magic
Decks of Many Things are notoriously resistant to divination magic that would reveal their locations, so knights travel widely in pursuit of even faint leads. Inevitably, many of these leads turn out to be the effects of curses and corrupt magic. Rather than ignore these situations, knights endeavor to protect those affected by curses, destroy cursed magic items, and contain evil and destructive artifacts so they can't cause further harm or be used for wicked ends.
The Solar Bastion's headquarters has a vault that holds at least one evil artifact the organization was unable to destroy, hiding it so it can't be put to evil use (which artifact this might be is up to you). Knowledge of the vault's location and contents is restricted to Hilarion, the Solar Bastion's leader.
Membership
Knights of the Solar Bastion are battle-hardened veterans who operate independently across the multiverse. When word reaches the organization that a Deck of Many Things has appeared, the nearest knight investigates, but every knight has the magical means to contact the Solar Bastion's headquarters and request help. Even so, it's rare for knights to work together outside their headquarters.
Recruitment
As they travel across the multiverse, knights of the Solar Bastion frequently encounter other individuals whose goals and interests align with their own. These encounters offer opportunities for adventurers to become involved with the work of the Solar Bastion or even become knights themselves.
Because the knights' resources are spread thin, the Solar Bastion welcomes assistance. A knight might recruit help for a mission that's too difficult to handle alone, but more often a knight opportunistically joins forces with adventurers, offering help with the party's efforts as long as their goals align. Often, the adventurers in these arrangements have no knowledge of the knight's true allegiance, and the knight rarely explains the Solar Bastion's purpose unless that information is relevant.
Characters who prove themselves competent and good-hearted might earn an invitation to become knights themselves. If the characters express interest, the knight brings them to the Solar Bastion headquarters. The only requirement for becoming a knight is swearing an oath to the knights' leader, promising to uphold the organization's goals.
Occasionally, knights of the Solar Bastion take in orphaned children and people in similarly desperate situations. These people might become squires to the knights, accompanying them on adventures and learning the order's ways, although Hilarion discourages this practice, preferring to see such folk returned to stable circumstances. Squires who prove their worth can count on being accepted as knights.
In addition to the knights who actively pursue the goals of the Solar Bastion, the order's eponymous headquarters is staffed with a variety of scholars, researchers, diviners, and retired knights who train active members.
Leadership
The founder and sole leader of the Solar Bastion is a neutral good solar angel named Hilarion. Hilarion was once the trusted lieutenant of a lawful good deity, and when a mighty cleric of that deity drew the Void card from a Deck of Many Things, Hilarion led the effort to retrieve and restore the cleric's soul. The quest proved so harrowing that Hilarion's faith eroded, and when the quest was complete, the angel chose to establish the Solar Bastion rather than return to his god's service.
A powerful and immortal Celestial, Hilarion sees no reason for additional tiers of leadership in the organization. All members of the Solar Bastion report directly to him, and the knights are largely self-directed in choosing missions. Hilarion and the rest of the organization represent a pool of resources knights can draw upon during their missions, rather than a top-down leadership structure. In Hilarion's view, the goals of the organization are most important, not personal loyalty to him or obeying his rules.
That said, the knights of the Solar Bastion recognize the value of wisdom and experience. They respect the oldest knights' authority, whether those knights are active or retirees who serve as trainers in the citadel. No formal hierarchy confers authority on these knight-elders, but in practice they wield significant influence over less experienced knights.
Solar Bastion Knight
The Solar Bastion knight presented here is an example member of the organization.
Customize this stat block to suit individual knights and differentiate them from each other. For example, knights who track the Grim Harrow through the multiverse might resemble rangers instead of paladins.
In addition, 9, detailed at the end of the chapter, can serve as a model for knights with a lower challenge rating.
Headquarters
The Solar Bastion's eponymous headquarters is a fortified town built on a metal disk that orbits close to a small sun in a little-known reach of the Material Plane. The face of the disk on which the Solar Bastion is built faces the sun, so the sun is always high in the sky above it.
Map 10.1 shows the major features of the Solar Bastion, including the following locations.
Dome of the Sun
Hilarion's residence is a gleaming white dome that suggests both a lofty temple and a majestic palace in its architecture and furnishings. Sun shines through a circular window in the top of the dome, and Hilarion can usually be found seated on a throne beneath that shaft of sunlight.
A permanent teleportation circle is inscribed in the floor before the throne, allowing anyone who knows the circle's sigil sequence and the Teleport or Teleportation Circle spell to teleport directly to the dome. The throne also allows anyone seated on it to cast the Sending spell using the throne. Hilarion uses this feature to communicate with knights across the multiverse, but the angel allows knights or even some visitors to use this magic.
The Dome of the Sun is said to have a hidden vault beneath it. One or more evil artifacts are rumored to be stashed in this vault to keep them from being used for malevolent ends. It's generally believed that Hilarion is the only being who knows how to access the vault, but knights of the Solar Bastion suspect traps, other angels, or perhaps heavenly Constructs protect the vault as well.
Towers of Day
Seven tall watchtowers ring the edge of the Solar Bastion. In addition to offering a clear view of the entire fortress, the towers are equipped with magical devices that give their sentries the ability to detect threats approaching the bastion and even to peer into other planes of existence. Knights of the Solar Bastion usually stay in one of the Towers of Day while visiting the fortress, and while they're there, they also serve as sentries. Each tower typically holds at most a few such visiting sentries as well as a captain, usually an older knight retired from field duty who resides there permanently. Over time, the captains have customized their towers to suit their personal hobbies and research interests.
North Tower
The tower nearest the Dome of the Sun is imbued with magic that makes it serve as a sort of north pole for the fortress. Compasses point toward that tower, giving those in the bastion a common reference for cardinal directions.
Spelljammer Harbor
A docking area in the southeast part of the Solar Bastion offers a place for spacefaring spelljamming vessels to moor (see Spelljammer: Adventures in Space for more information about travel through space). Hilarion keeps a wasp ship—a lightweight spelljamming vessel that can be crewed by as few as five sailors—in the harbor, but there's room for a few more vessels depending on their size. Knights sometimes borrow Hilarion's vessel to pursue rumors concerning a Deck of Many Things when teleportation isn't a safe option. Knights who have spelljamming vessels of their own also dock them here when visiting the Solar Bastion, but the docks are seldom full.
Training Yard
In the center of the Solar Bastion is a large training yard where visiting knights hone their combat and magical skills. They mostly fight against each other under the watchful eyes of retired knights, but occasionally a knight brings a particularly horrific monster—typically a powerful evil Undead or Aberration—to the fortress so knights can work together to learn how to defeat it.
Library Tower
Across the Solar Bastion from the Dome of the Sun, the graceful spire of the Library Tower rises higher than the Towers of Day. Inside the library, a ramp winds up from the ground floor through vast ranks of shelves holding tomes, scrolls, and other repositories of learning. Scribes and scholars tend the place, sorting and indexing the volumes while making copies of particularly valuable resources. A tremendous amount of lore concerning Decks of Many Things is stored in this tower, much of it annotated by scholars attempting to sift fact from legend.
Artisans and Services
The Solar Bastion attracts skilled makers of weapons and armor. Weavers, tailors, healers, jewelers, booksellers, and other merchants also cater to the fortress's inhabitants and visitors.
Adventure Hooks
The Solar Bastion offers many opportunities for driving adventures in your campaign, whether or not a Deck of Many Things appears. Use these ideas to inspire adventures that feature the knights of the Solar Bastion; the nonplayer characters named here also appear in the Solar Bastion Contact table below, and the stat block for Sir Jared is presented at the end of the chapter:
Solar Bastion Patronage
Tasha's Cauldron of Everything presents rules for and examples of 2: individuals or organizations that serve as patrons to an adventuring party. The Solar Bastion can function as a group patron, offering resources while sending adventurers on missions that further the organization's goals.
Solar Bastion Perks
With the Solar Bastion as your group's patron, you gain the following perks.
Magic of the Solar Bastion
Knights of the Solar Bastion cast any spell available to them on your behalf without charge. See the Solar Bastion knight stat block in this chapter for an example knight's spellcasting abilities. Some knights may have other spells they can cast, at the DM's discretion. The knight provides any costly material components needed for the spell, as long as you demonstrate your need and are in good standing with the Solar Bastion. In extreme circumstances, your group can appeal to Hilarion for more powerful magical assistance, including the Resurrection spell.
Equipment
You can purchase common magic items from your Solar Bastion contact. The DM determines the available stock or can call for a group Intelligence (Investigation) check to ascertain if the Solar Bastion's network can locate a desired item. The DC for this check is 10 in a city, 15 in a town, and 20 in a village. If the check fails, 1d8 days must pass before you can search for the same item again in that community.
The DM sets the price for a common magic item or determines it randomly: 2d4 × 10 gp, or half as much for a consumable item such as a potion or scroll.
Research
The Library Tower in the Solar Bastion is a vast repository of knowledge that can help you unearth hidden secrets. If you communicate with your Solar Bastion contact or visit the Library Tower in person, you have advantage on ability checks to research lore related to the Deck of Many Things and other topics of interest to the Solar Bastion (including evil artifacts, curses, and other topics at the DM's discretion).
Solar Bastion Contact
When adventurers have the Solar Bastion as a patron, one member of that organization—typically a knight—serves as the party's primary contact, relaying messages to and from Hilarion and the other knights. Roll or pick from the Solar Bastion Contact table to determine the nature of your primary connection to the organization.
| d6 | Contact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Restless Retiree. Gundra, an ancient dwarf, served the Solar Bastion in the field for over a century before retiring. She lives in the Solar Bastion now and relentlessly drills the knights she trains. She clearly misses working in the field. |
| 2 | Grumpy Veteran. Howart, an older human, has mentored many young adventurers, but most were smart enough to listen to his advice... unlike you lot, who seem to think you know everything. |
| 3 | Busy Supervisor. Theira, a frazzled elf, has so many irons in the fire, so many projects to keep track of! Of course you're not imposing, she says, but can you get quickly to the point, please? |
| 4 | Distracted Researcher. Haddick, a middle-aged halfling, spends most of her time in the Library Tower at the Solar Bastion. Even when she's not at the library, or when she's talking to you, it's pretty clear that her mind is still there, focused on her latest subject of research. |
| 5 | Lonely Knight. Jared, a human knight of the Solar Bastion with a distinguished career, has traveled the multiverse alone so long he's become isolated and unsure of himself in social situations. He wants to help but needs encouragement to regain his naturally friendly demeanor. |
| 6 | Hilarion. The solar speaks to you directly, via the Sending spell or after summoning you to the Solar Bastion. |
I like Hilarion. He gets straight to the point.
Solar Bastion Specialists
Because they usually work alone, knights of the Solar Bastion tend to be jacks-of-all-trades who know a little about a lot of things. As an adventuring party sponsored by the Solar Bastion, you instead provide specialized skills and have considerable freedom to pursue your specializations, as long as your efforts help to further the Solar Bastion's overall goals.
The Solar Bastion Member Roles table suggests roles you might fill in the Solar Bastion and the backgrounds frequently associated with each role.
| Role | Backgrounds |
|---|---|
| Counselor | Charlatan, entertainer, noble |
| Curse-breaker | Acolyte, folk hero, hermit, soldier |
| Investigator | Criminal, sage, sailor |
| Researcher | Guild artisan, sage |
| Tracker | Outlander, urchin |
Solar Bastion Quests
In service to the Solar Bastion, most of your time is spent in pursuit of the organization's goals. The Solar Bastion Quests table presents examples of missions your contact might send you on.
| d8 | Quest |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aid and Counsel. Your contact has learned another group of adventurers has discovered a Deck of Many Things. Find them before they draw from it, and warn them of its dangers—or help them get out of the mess their draws bring upon them. |
| 2 | Research. A rare tome said to describe early encounters with Decks of Many Things is thought to lie in the hoard of a dragon. Retrieve it! |
| 3 | Track Rifflers. Rifflers (see 20) have been active in a remote countryside. Find out if they have a Deck of Many Things, and ensure they don't give it to a hapless mortal. |
| 4 | Stay Ahead of the Grim Harrow. Riders of the Grim Harrow (see 18) are terrorizing a village as they search for a Deck of Many Things. Figure out where they're going, and get there before they do! |
| 5 | Find Euryale. Rumors of a reclusive medusa are spreading through a city. There's a slim chance the medusa could be Euryale, who could lead the knights to Asteria. Determine the medusa's identity and secretly follow her trail, if any, to Asteria. |
| 6 | Prevent Misuse. A hierophant of the Heralds of the Comet (see 11) has acquired a few cards from the original Deck of Many Things. Ensure the complete artifact doesn't fall into her hands. |
| 7 | Combat a Curse. After plundering a dragon's hoard, adventurers attract constant ill luck. Make sure the treasure isn't cursed; if it is, ensure they aren't spreading the curse as they spend the gold. |
| 8 | Contain an Evil Artifact. The blights and ruination befalling a region suggest someone there is casting spells from the Book of Vile Darkness or perhaps wielding the Wand of Orcus. Do whatever is necessary to stop this person, and bring the evil artifact back to Hilarion so it can be contained. |
Sir Jared
Jared is a wandering knight who makes an excellent contact for groups that have Solar Bastion patronage. A former mercenary, Jared credits Hilarion with helping him change his ways and use his skills for good instead of gold, but he feels unworthy of the organization and has grown lonely after so long away from the Solar Bastion.