[GM Post]

The sky was torn asunder. There's no better way to describe it. Dark cloud roiled into a great vortex, a colossal eye that oversaw the world and wept in watery deluge and cruel hailstones. The hill and the fort sitting on top was actually spared the worst of it, the eye of the storm marginally calmer than the rest, but even then it's still hazardous to linger as hailstones fell, furious wind blew, and lightning strikes introduced themselves into the already chaotic mix.

The village below was spared from the flame, only to be then threatened by flood and ice.

The effort to crack open the box finally found some headway, shortly before August was unfortunately incinerated. One of the previously sealed corners popped from the force, traces of magic immediately leaking out as inspection of the inner working was made possible.

Down below, a desperate Asevor fell under multiple layers of assault. Low as it may be, his bag of tricks were yet to run dry. Through one eye he saw the pain spell forming, and the activation of his ring sent a neutralizing pulse out that shattered it before it formed. Scalding light triggered the last instant barrier, the ring cracking and dimming yet it bought enough time for the archmage to reach his target.

[b][color=#778da9]"FOOL! Stop that! You have no idea-"[/color][/b] The sentient bear had the audacity to insult [i]him[/i]. And even tried to snatch his spellbook - only for the protective measure to trigger, releasing electric shock that rendered the limb burnt and limp. Like a possessed fiend it still kept going, swinging with a bloody makeshift club that glanced off the remnant barrier coating the archmage.

The insane ritual must be stopped.

[b][color=#778da9]"Blackwood's Shatterbone!"[/color][/b]

Completing the last stroke of the tesseract, with hailstones eating away at his barrier, Asevor sent the magical construct right toward the dancing bear. It went through Cedar's hide and inside of him, pulsing once with no immediate effect before a step of the rain dance was interrupted with an audible crack. That finally toppled him, a few more muted cracks followed from the impact with the ground.

Asevor would like to see it continue dance with bones as brittle as glass.

Now, the rest of them. The sky was too dangerous at the moment, but he could still sense Harlek's invocation awaiting patiently beyond the cloud. Once the heavy cloud dispersed Asevor would be able to do make good use of it, but until then he need to avoid further confrontation. Him, a mighty archmage, fleeing from this half-baked lot. The very thought of it burned and ate him from within, but as long as he survived he will be able to snatch victory at the last second.

The barrier shattered. Raising a hand to cover his head, Asevor tapped one of his ring before abruptly disappearing from sight. Plain old invisibility, with the weather this bad it'll be nearly impossible to keep track of him. Flying low as fast as he dared, the elderly man rushed back toward the fort where he'll be safe from the wrath of the sky.

Hailstones kept on falling. Already cuts and bruises marred his wrinkled skin.

Nearby, Veronica was busy. After bailing out Chounan yet again, she had to drag him into the nearby stable to keep him away from the hail. Then the vampiress went back out and retrieved Yvonne and Reinhold, both burned rather severely and was in no condition to move. She had to cut out the mercenary's armor for it had partially melted, though it did its job absorbing a portion of the beam's destructive energy before it struck her fully. Her left side was littered with angry red blisters, part of the face faring even worse. Meanwhile, the hunter was... not in good condition at all. The damage was severe enough that some part were blackened charcoal, and without some miracle he's not going to live much longer.

With all involved parties battered and exhausted, it would not take much longer before the battle finally saw the end. One way or another.