Tobias Valen

Context warning: Mention of a civilian massacre in by an invading army. Brief discussion of injuries, the dead and dying. Portrait of Tobias Valen created by Cait Brinsmead via Artbreeder.


Tobias Valhayen was the last, official claw keep to have served at Draakhohen Castle for the Dunheuvelin Family. He was the ostler to Laisrén, the young dragon secretly harboured in the Vuurfeld after the Raskvaerii Invasion. Very little is known about Tobias Valen's early life other than that he was orphaned during the Raskvaerii Massacre at Everyman's Sanctum in Clernau. He is believed to have sided with Ulrych Dunheuvelyn against Gerard Dunheuvelyn during the Battle of Alahnis. Historians are torn as to whether Tobias was also claw keep to the Last Dunheuvelyn Dragon, whose name is still unknown.

Chosen By A Dragon

A year after the massacre, in 6SGC, a wedding took place in Boerhaaven beetween a blacksmith and the daughter of the retired claw keep for Ulrych Dunheuvelyn's deceased dragon. The merrymoot was wild and chaotic, and included several display dances such as a clawbraid dance and scuffle: a dramatic, communal performance where it was never clear if the dancers were showcasing their skill or trying to outdo one another.
On the sidelines, several partygoers noticed that Tobias's feet were absent-mindedly tapping along, instinct guiding him as he watched. The language of the claw scuff stepping seemed to speak to him, as though his heart remembered something that his broken mind did not. A few of the claw keeps also spotted the boy's dancing, and their drunken grins widened.
“Oi! C'mon, lad!” one of them shouted, beckoning him forward. “You’ve got the spark in your step! Get over here, and show us what you’ve got!”

Tobias Valen and Laisrén by Cait Brinsmead via BING AI

The other wedding guests had cheered and clapped, gently coaxing Tobias to join the circle. Although the boy started off tentatively, haltingly, it quickly became apparent that Tobias wasn't just familiar with the dancers' simpler stepping sequences - he was a master of them, each movement precise and growing with confidence. No one had expected Laisrén to step into the circle. The bride and groom had been honoured by the presence of the surviving Dunheuvelyn dragon at their wedding. To the astonishment of the assembled claw keeps and other guests, the young dragon had trilled, dipping its head low towards Tobias, issuing him a

clear challenge. It was inviting the boy to try and replicate its vocalisations through the intricate rhythm of scuff stepping.
In a breathtaking display of skill and instinct, Tobias not only accepted the young dragon’s challenge but surpassed all expectations, flawlessly mirroring its vocalizations with his scuff stepping. Unbeknownst to him, this remarkable feat carried a deeper significance. By accurately and joyously answering the dragon’s call, Tobias had unwittingly sealed himself into a bond of service with Laisrén, marking himself as the dragon’s chosen claw keep.

Death of Laisrén

Laisrén and his rider, Otto Dunheuvelyn, were shot down by Raskvaerii dragon hunters in 7SGC. This was a clear violation of the marriage treaty between Josefaena Theraes and Miron Tsernavin, as one of the Kohnagyn’s primary conditions for her marriage to the conqueror was that the slaying of Kredasene dragons was to cease.
A ceremony of repentence and reconciliation was organised to heal the divisions between House Dunheuvelyn, the crown, and the general who had led the attack on Laisrén. The Dunheuvelyns were not penalised for having harboured an

Mourning Laisrén by Cait Brinsmead via BING AI

unlicensed dragon, as Kohnyg Miron deemed the tragic loss of the heir, Otto, and the mutiliation of the youngest son, Cadfayl, to be sufficient punishment.
As part of the ceremonial acts of mourning, Laisrén's claw keep was required to perform the final 'Stand Down'. This dance of lamentation honoured the bond between the ostler and the dragon, as well as visually mourning the beast's sacrifice. Tobias was allegedly unwilling to perform this final act for Laisrén in front of the royal court and the general who slew him, but was given little option to refuse. The dance he performed was later described by Kohnyg Miron himself, in a letter that is now housed in the Raskvaerii Imperial Archives:

"I've seen claw keeps dance before, true, but none like him. Every step he executed spoke of a bond deeper than words, a reverence that bordered on devotion. This claw keep did not just possess skill: he embodied something unnervingly primal, something powerfully sacred. Valen did not merely perform Laisrén's final Stand Down: he grieved that beast, he honoured its memory, and he commanded us to never forget the blood that was spilt. I never thought I could mourn a Perdition beast, brother, but watching that man dance... it is as if he carved the loss of that dragon into my very Soul."

— Kohnyg Miron

Battle of Petitioner's Hill

Tobias drops out of the verifiable, historical record after the mourning of Laisrén. Some unreliable narratives of the Battle of Petitioner's Hill place Tobias with the Kohnyg and Ulrych Dunheuvelyn against Gerard Dunheuvelyn's rebellion, but historians question these sightings. Some have hypothesised that it is likely Tobias was the claw keep of the Last Dunheuvelyn Dragon, who was called by Gerard out of the skies to slay the Raskvaerii-Kohnyg. At the very least, most historians believe the depth of grief expessed by Tobias at the death of Laisrén, may have been enough to make the claw keep march with the rebels on that fateful day.

Early Life

Tobias's parentage is unknown. It is believed he first entered the historical record of the Vuurfeld in 5SGC, under the abbreviated name 'Val', when officials tried to construct a list of survivors and victims from the Massacre at Clernau. Estimated to have been between the ages of 12 and 14, Tobias was not recovered with the survivors pulled from Everyman's Sanctum, after the Raskvaerii soldiers had put the villagers hiding there to the sword. His wounds were listed as being consistent with being "ridden over by horses", and he was found unconscious inside an empty barrel behind the tavern.
The boy was said to have had terrible amnesia, and was unable to identify any of the massacre's victims as his family. It is uncertain whether the name he gave officials was truly part of his birth identity, but several sources from his time as claw keep specifically list his family name, Valen, as "(self-chosen)", leading to suspicions that the name 'Tobias' may also have been a personal choice.
Tobias is believed to have been taken in by the widowed healer, Beatrijs Roermond of Boerhaaven, as the boy listed her as the sole beneficiary of his final wage, were he to die in the employ of the Dunheuvelyn family. Roermond had been one of the healers who had travelled to Clernau to assist with the dead, dying and injured after the Raskvaerii attack, and was noted to have acquired a "young assistant" for almost a year following the event.

Tobias Valen by Cait Brinsmead via BING AI

Young Claw Keep by Cait Brinsmead via BING AI

Saint-Kohnyg Miron's Matyrdom by Cait Brinsmead via BING AI