Viravos

Aaravos: If you had taken only a moment to listen before throwing your tantrum, I would have explained that this is all going according to plan. Everything is as it should be. Your capture holds an important purpose.
Lord Viren: Brilliant plan. I'm behind bars, unable to guide the kingdom when it needs me most.
Aaravos: Precisely. You're behind bars, kept nice and snug in captivity where the guards know you don't have access to your tools of the trade. Who do you think they will suspect when word comes from Del Baar, Duren, and beyond of the attacks on their lands? Their first suspect will be trussed up in chains, and then, they will see your worth as the only one who can stop the coming onslaught from reaching the borders of Katolis.
Aaravos: I will work behind the scenes to ensure all take notice. Then, you will be indispensable. You will have them begging for your aid, as they rightly should.
Lord Viren: Sitting here idle, waiting for those imbeciles to realize the full scope of the threat at the Breach isn't in my nature. The elves could be amassing their forces as we speak.
Aaravos: If you wish to work unimpeded later on, then there are some limitations you'll have to cope with for the moment. Have patience. I will serve as your intermediary until you're free to cast as you see fit. This is only the beginning of a drawn out game, and I need you here to assure that everything goes smoothly.
Lord Viren: A game? Is that what this is to you? Your talk of working freely, imposed limitations and maintaining patience - I suppose those words are meant as much as for me as they are directed back at yourself. I still have to learn what you'll gain from all of this.
Aaravos: I have seen the vast expanse of the cosmos over the course of thousands of years. Mortals wars are exercises in strategy, much like you might play a game of chess, but the consequences are very real for all of us involved. You ask that I gain in all this? It's simple. What I have to gain is a way out, where none existed before.
Lord Viren: And once you're out? Will you take vengeance on the ones that kept you captive? You might have deduced already given that you're no longer in the dragon king's lair that Thunder is dead and there is no heir to exact your revenge on. The rest of Xadia will fall and humanity will finally know peace. Where do you see yourself fitting into the rise of humanity?
Aaravos: What I have always been. A teacher. A guide. Who is it, do you suppose, that brought the existence of dark magic to humanity? I can assure you, regardless of your proud lineage, it wasn't your ancestor that discovered it by happenstance. It isn't vengeance I seek but progress.
Lord Viren: You? Why would you teach a human how to wield dark magic? Don't tell me it's out of a sense of pity that we're not connected to a Primal Source like your own people. I'm curious. With all your vast insight did you foresee that the elves and dragons would grow jealous that we learned a way to harness magic to the point where they'd be driven to split the continent and banish us from Xadia?
Aaravos: Not pity. It was borne out of admiration. Humans are so full of ingenuity, determined to master that which they cannot fathom. It was the effort of one human in particular that made me reconsider what I knew of your short lives. What I lacked was your ambition, your passion, your insatiable thirst to shape the world around you. I had an inkling of what would erupt between humanity and elves, but I thought it essential to your development. After all, it's only through adversity that your people rise not as individuals, but as a collective, united against another force far stronger.
Lord Viren: If only your people would have your outlook. Whatever my ancestor's motivations I'm sure it was partly borne of growing wearisome of magical race's arrogance and superiority for being able to wield magic. You are right. Look what we've accomplished in the human kingdoms! Agriculture, civilization. We've tamed this land they thought they confined us to. Our only threat that remains is that from the east.
Aaravos: My people can be as shortsighted as humans themselves, for all that they loathe to admit it. I don't harbor such grand assumptions about the elves and dragons; they are just as bound to petty struggles and a lack of perspective. It means that they are fallible, and a push in the right direction, they can be overcome. You have potential, Viren, but your ability has been stunted because you possess only the knowledge of the humans that have come before you. There is still much I can teach you, but only if you let me. There's much I've yet to give you, but only when I am free to do so.
Lord Viren: You've come when I am in need of aid the most, my benevolent benefactor, bestowing more gifts of dark magic. I apologize. I don't mean to sound snide. My "tantrum," as you called it, has passed. I'm more clear headed now and prepared to wait. Hopefully there will be no surprises until those phantom assassins have wreaked havoc and made the other four kingdoms see the danger on their doorstep.
Aaravos: If any arise, I'm prepared to handle them. The insect doesn't just allow us to communicate, it ensures that we're linked, giving me a measure of control in this plane. I will work through you, using your innate ability without you having to perform the tasks in my stead. It isn't nearly as powerful as I could be outside this mirror, but we must both be patient in that regard.
Aaravos: I do appreciate your cooperation. I would be unable to act if you weren't already accomplished in your own right. This is in order for us to function at our best, together. You make for an invaluable partner.
Lord Viren: I'm not above taking advice when its sound. The part where you make it sound like I'm some conduit for your power is what makes me uncomfortable. The sensation is not ... unpleasant. It's less uncomfortable than having a grub making a home of my ear canal and talking to me. Let's be clear. Your control in this plane stays purely on things external to my body. At no point do I want to become some vessel for you to control.
Aaravos: I couldn't even if I were inclined to, you can rest assured. My power doesn't lie in the control of living beings, only the flow of magic within them. The only one in control of your body will be you and you alone. This is supposed to be an equal partnership, after all, and I have no interest in puppeteering a capable mage when I can simply work with them.
Lord Viren: I'm relieved if that's the case. You really are very different, considering us equals in this. I was once foolish to think the same of someone else, until he reminded me of my place. You've proven yourself to be resourceful, but my trust will only come with time.
Aaravos: As I've said before, you shouldn't trust me. Not yet. Until I give you results, you are right to be skeptical. Doubly so if someone had betrayed your trust before; it isn't something so easily given twice.
Lord Viren: Wise words. You know the results that I'm after. Once I'm free from this cell and the other kingdoms come grovelling we'll reassess where we stand with each other and take on the next phase of my plan. Are you sure you have to regrets about betraying the elves? I don't mean to only push them back from the Breach, but to reclaim Xadia. There will be resistance from their side, but we've proven that we could slay a dragon king. What hope do the elven rabble stand against a united human front?
Aaravos: I've outlasted an era of dragons ruling the skies and elves the earth. I'll outlast the age of humans as well. What I seek is to bring about the next stage of civilization, and to see what lies beyond each race subjugating one another in an endless cycle. If that means burning a few bridges along the way, it's a small price to pay. Infinitesimally small. There's simply no time for regrets, my dear mage, not when change is so close at hand.
Lord Viren: How refreshing. Time and again I've argued that the price to pay for our continued survival is minuscule in what is to be gained. I can see this being a very beneficial partnership. The age of humans has only just begun. I'm glad that I'm here to finally witness it.
Aaravos: Those who throw aside progress for the sake of maintaining the status quo deserve the chance to watch as it crumbles before their eyes. If you're coming to realize that our goals align and we have a great deal to offer one another with this alliance, then so much the better. After all these years, it's... Comforting to find my prison in the hands of a kindred spirit.
Lord Viren: We're both the prisoners of short sighted fools. Is this your punishment for teaching a human magic? Doomed to isolation for eternity for bringing enlightenment to another race. They didn't see us as a threat even when we learned to pick up tools, but you gave us the greatest tool of all. If nothing else you have my gratitude for seeing the potential within us. They must have had a reason for keeping the mirror all these years, or perhaps it's that arrogance again that the mirror would always be safe in the dragon's lair where he could look on his prisoner knowing that he'll never break free.
Aaravos: Perhaps you're right. I don't claim to know the rationalization of a dead king, only that my release has been long overdue. If it was wrong of me to love humans, to encourage their brilliance, and ensure that my gifts to them weren't squandered, then justice has been well served. Now, we will see who is truly deserving of power, the likes of which humans and elves have never seen. If they found the paltry tricks of fledgling dark mages too big a threat to contend with, the knowledge that I have amassed in captivity will make even the strongest of dragons falter when challenging you.
Lord Viren: Those are bold words, but I don't think you're boasting. We'll show them how wrong they were to make the decisions they did in the past. Dark magic is not to be trifled with and like the magic that is a part of Xadia it too is a natural force is this world. They fear it, because unlike us they have yet to master it and that will be their downfall.