Sea Lion Shores some farcical aquatic ceremony

The coast..? It was a vague answer, but he could tell by the uncertain glow in her eyes that she did not mean to be difficult about it; she simply did not have the information to share. It was more surprising than it should've been, really. The man seemed bereft for a moment. He was silent as he took in the statement, flicking his ears to catch her further conversation, but not responding. The whirlwind in his mind did not abate.

If this was the coast, but not the coast he knew... Then this wasn't the Vale. This was somewhere totally foreign. A land beyond. Was it possible? There had been tales of great lands apart from his island home from the Ancients (a term loosely used for his family's elders and wisest druids), but there was never any proof, not until...

That cannot be. The stranger settled in to his denial in the manner that his body had settled upon this shore — wrapping himself in a mental snare. Next, adamant that he prove the truth in his statement, he tried to rise up on his feet and get a better look around himself. The weeds were still draped across parts of his body but the girl had freed him from the bulk of it — yet still his body shook, his muscles weak from whatever pulverizing force had brought him here. It took him three tries to stand, and when he did the man saw more than just an endless bar of sand in either direction - he saw the plump silhouettes of strange beasts in the distance.

It had to be true, then. This was not his home - this was somewhere strange and new, and it should have been thrilling to him, but it absolutely wasn't. For the first time in a long time, the man felt a bolt of tremulous uncertainty deep within himself.

He turned his attention back upon the girl then, fierce and bright like a hawk's own, and drawled in his weakend voice, How long have I been here..? I... I have no memory of how this could have happened -- that it could happen at all -- and just as swiftly as he had been up and speaking, his withers quaked, and his haunch fell back to the sand. He sagged as if in defeat, his head low between his shoulders. There is no way back for me... he realized aloud, and then muted himself again, as if in mourning for all that he had lost.