Project Description – “Dreams of the Relentless” (Audio Drama MVP)
Dreams of the Relentless is a 25-minute immersive audio drama and proof-of-concept for a larger Afro-cosmic horror anthology rooted in myth, memory, and madness. Set in a mythic world haunted by gods, guilt, and generational longing, this story follows Nasumba, a king seeking to defeat sleep—only to uncover his own unraveling at the hands of a dream-haunting god.
This audio drama blends the sacred and the surreal: wind-blasted dunes echo with ancestral voices, a hallucinating king hears whispers through walls, and ancient gods slip into the folds of memory. The sound design will feature rich environmental ambiance, ritualistic music, and eldritch soundscapes to fully immerse the listener in an uncanny, sun-scorched world where time bends and language bleeds.
Voiced by a small cast (one male lead, one female supporting multiple voices, and one male supporting multiple voices), the performance is supported by a soundbed of original soundtrack, layered SFX, and dreamlike transitions. Every line is treated like incantation: spoken from the gut, touched by grief, and echoing with the weight of unseen things.
This MVP is the first entry in a proposed anthology of Afrocentric audio horror, spotlighting Black spiritual cosmologies, ancestral fears, and god-haunted landscapes. Think Pan-African Lovecraftian horror without colonial baggage. A place where the monsters are divine, the past is alive, and salvation may be the cruelest curse.
Designed for listeners who crave psychological horror, mythic tragedy, and immersive audio storytelling, Dreams of the Relentless lays the groundwork for a genre-bending, culturally resonant experience.
Looking forward to hear your auditions!
Good luck, and sleep easy.
I wanted to thank everyone for submitting their work. It was really enjoyable to listen to all the diverse talent that applied. However, for the MVP, auditions are closed and a cast was picked for their roles. But be on the look out for more auditions. We'll be writing and producing a full season this year.
Thank you all,
Blighted Ciphers
King Nasumba, known as The Relentless, is a warrior-king whose glory stands atop the ashes of his enemies. His voice must carry the weight of bloodshed and triumph, but also the hollowness of a man who has won every war except the one within. He is regal yet restless, haunted by sleep and the dreams he cannot control. Beneath the hardened exterior of a conqueror lies a mind unraveling — philosophical, suspicious, and obsessed with confronting the unknowable depths of the dreamworld. The voice actor must be able to convey both the intimidating force of a battlefield general and the quiet torment of a man whose ambition has left him adrift. Dry wit, existential fear, pride, and sorrow all coexist in his speech. His words often feel like pronouncements or confessions, weighted with dread and inevitability.
Reference Keywords: Macbeth, Gilgamesh, Ozymandias, King Saul, stoic but unraveling, war-weary philosopher, haunted general.
(Reflective, weary) "They cheered my name as if it meant something. As if conquest could fill the chasm that opened once the killing was done. Tell me—what is a king who has nothing left to conquer?"
(Commanding, intense) "Sharpen your blades and steel your hearts. If the gods fear what sleeps in the Dreamscape, then let them tremble—for I march into that night with my eyes wide open."
(Cold, sardonic, to his queen) "You ask me to smile, to play your beloved king while you parade our spoils. But I wonder, Mainouma… when I conquered the world, did you not feel the warmth leave this palace too?"
This will require short lines of dialogue for two female characters.
Voice: Regal, grounded, emotionally rich
Tone: Commanding without being cruel; maternal without softness
Accent: West African-inspired preferred; strong enunciation and warmth in cadence
Age: 40s–60s range (flexible), must sound seasoned but powerful
Queen Mainouma rules the desert stronghold of Ibare with a soul forged by loss and leadership. A queen by burden more than ambition, she has held back tides of violence and chaos through sheer resolve. She is Nasumba’s mother — fierce, conflicted, loving in a way only warriors love: through sacrifice. Hers is a voice others look to when all else collapses.
Think Queen Ramonda (Black Panther) meets Lady Jessica (Dune) with a touch of Yaa Asantewaa.
🎭 Vocal Performance Must Convey:Inner strength beneath grief
Righteous authority tempered with humanity
A leader who’s been hardened, but not hollowed out
“I did not raise you to be good, Nasumba. I raised you to survive the kind of world that eats good men alive.”
The Sleepless Mother
Voice: Ageless, otherworldly, reverent but unsettling
Tone: Serene and seductive, but always a touch off — like a lullaby laced with arsenic.
Accent: Pan-African or West African undertones encouraged, but layered with something spectral or ancient.
Age: Beyond comprehension; her voice must transcend time, yet feel intimate.
She is the embodiment of sleeplessness and ancestral memory — a deity whose influence spans generations. In Nasumba’s descent into obsession, she appears not as a nightmare but as a beautiful, maternal comfort… whose embrace you never wake from. Think Galadriel in shadow, Hades as a mother, or a siren that sings of peace as the world burns.
🎭 Vocal Performance Must Convey:Seductive calm with unnerving undertones
Power without needing to shout
The kind of warmth that should feel safe… but isn't
“Your warriors scream into the night. But it is I who cradle their terror, quiet as breath, soft as silk. Come, child… lay your burdens here.”
*Say something you think would fit*
This role will be to voice three voices.
Voice: Soft-spoken, reverent, weathered
Tone: Devoted yet heavy with grief
Age: 30s–50s range
Accent: West African-inspired preferred
Character Summary:
A former warrior turned quiet caretaker, the Vassal serves Queen Mainouma with sacrificial loyalty. He is the one who bears the cost of her legacy in silence. His performance is subtle — rooted in breath, memory, and the slow ache of endurance. A man whose duty outlives his own sense of self.
🗣️ Sample Lines
2. The Dream-Haunting God (Male, Eldritch)“He dreamed of you until his ribs forgot how to close. I gathered what he left. You wear his end like a crown.”
Voice: Deep, fluid, surreal — like velvet over rot
Tone: Intimate yet invasive, like a memory that won’t leave
Age: Ageless
Accent: Flexible — preference for a voice that feels familiar and wrong at once
Character Summary:
This is the god that stalks Nasumba in her dreams — not with violence, but repetition. He represents the voice that turns guilt into prophecy. His speech is slow, hypnotic, often echoing Nasumba’s own thoughts back to her as if they were his.
🗣️ Sample Lines
3. The High-Pitched Eldritch God (Male, Otherworldly)“Was it your choice, daughter of dusk? Or mine? Or are you still too afraid to name your hands for what they’ve done?”
Voice: Shrill, musical, uncanny — somewhere between falsetto and feedback
Tone: Ecstatic, cruel, playful — like a child pulling wings off angels
Age: Beyond time
Accent: Nonhuman — voice must feel like it should not be coming from a man
Character Summary:
A god of ending and unraveling, he arrives only in the final moments — a voice so sharp it fractures reality. He does not scream. He sings. Every word is bright with menace and delight. This god represents joy in entropy, beauty in collapse. Think eldritch opera.
🗣️ Sample Lines
“Ahhhh! You thought you’d bury me beneath her bones? I birthed the womb that birthed her, child of salt! You are late to the feast!”
*Say something you think would fit*
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