After 4 years, 16 days, and 14 levels, the party finally defeated my final villain. They successfully prevented the return of the exiled gods and earned the highest honor in the land.
I am an extremely tired GM. Time to take a few weeks off, then start planning the next campaign.
The caves are alive and have developed a taste for poor John. They yearn to feed, and their howls sound through the night like gusts of wind through the trees.
John knows the hopelessness of inevitability. Some day, they will find him. Some day, he will wake up deep in the bowels of the caves, and his cries will add to the howls of the caves on the wind.