Aotrom

Aotrom is a brown dragon of the Swordtail breed.

Ridoc’s relic from Aotrom is important enough to him that he adds a tattoo shaped like a swordtail tip, inked from his neck toward the mark on his shoulder.

Aotrom reacts sharply when gryphons threaten or crowd Ridoc. In mixed rider-flier settings, he answers a gryphon’s snap with a blast of hot steam and saliva, and he later snaps at a gryphon that races too close to him and Ridoc.

Aotrom can let conflict with Ridoc interfere with his awareness of the riot; Tairn treats his closing himself off during an argument as a serious failure for a dragon of his age.

Aotrom and Ridoc have an active prank war. After Trager’s funeral rites, Aotrom charges into the shallows and drenches Ridoc with seawater, answering an earlier prank in which Ridoc put itching powder between Aotrom’s neck scales after flight maneuvers.

Aotrom can be openly angry on Ridoc’s behalf. When he escorts Violet and Ridoc into the jungle for a private conversation, Violet reads the Brown Swordtail’s presence as anger rather than simple curiosity.

Ridoc is Aotrom’s rider, and Ridoc names him with pride immediately after their bond is revealed.

Aotrom is among the dragons who already know about venin and the hidden war. Ridoc appears to receive or sense Aotrom’s confirmation when Violet reveals that the dragons have been aware of the truth.

Aotrom’s bond communication with Ridoc can be severed by Deverelli’s loss of magic. At Tecarus’s manor, Ridoc cannot understand Aotrom, and Aotrom’s repeated roaring and saliva-blasts make the disruption visible to the group.

Zehyllna’s weak magic restores Aotrom’s communication with Ridoc after the Xortrys landing, placing him among the bonded dragons and gryphons whose rider bonds resume functioning there.

Aotrom guards Ridoc possessively during the irid confrontation, growling over him when the dragons return from the trees.

Aotrom can serve as part of the dragons’ aerial visibility network during battle. When cloud cover thins during a wyvern attack, Tairn reports what Aotrom can see to help the riot judge the threat.

Aotrom fights wyvern directly in the air and can shift from attack to formation support with Ridoc. During Basgiath’s defense, he tears into a wyvern’s belly and later joins the coordinated response to an attack run aimed at Violet and Tairn.

During the irid confrontation, one irid cites Aotrom as an example of dragonkind arming humans by gifting Ridoc ice.

Aotrom can support a dangerous battle remount. After Ridoc destroys a projection with ice, Aotrom comes back for him, and Ridoc catches Aotrom’s claw before they take off together.

Aotrom’s flight control lets Ridoc attempt risky close-range attacks against wyvern. At Medaro Pass, he outruns green fire climbing toward his tail and then flies vertically beside another wyvern while Ridoc reaches for its scales.

Aotrom helps support the cliff ascent by carrying crossbolts with the other dragons, though Ridoc says the dragons complain about being used like packhorses.

Aotrom is badly mauled during Basgiath’s defense when a wyvern locks onto his hindquarters and more wyvern close in. He stays airborne long enough for Ridoc, Sliseag, Sawyer, Tairn, and Violet to intervene, turning his injury into an urgent rescue.

Aotrom reaches the western end of the village with Feirge after Tairn and Chradh crash, but the brown dragon Violet first sees killing a wyvern there is Chradh rather than Aotrom.

Aotrom is one of the five dragons who land in Tecarus’s fighting pit with the Deverelli party. He initially remains grounded while other dragons launch, then follows them into the air once the welcome appears secure.

Aotrom makes the Unnbriel flight and lands behind Violet’s group in the meadow with the other dragons. He later follows Tairn into the sky to hunt, leaving the camp’s dragons to rotate between defense and food gathering.

Aotrom carries Trager’s body in his foreclaw during the flight from Zehyllna to the small isle and lowers his head to light the funeral pyre.

Aotrom takes part in Aretia’s north-side defense assignment after launching from Riorson House. He lands at the north gate with Sliseag beneath the gryphons on the wall.

At Medaro Pass, Aotrom joins Feirge and Sliseag in the three-dragon interception. His maneuvers keep Ridoc clear of a lethal burn and appear to give Ridoc the opening for a freezing attack against a wyvern.