We had the honor of chatting with Lavinia Duval/ Lavinia A., a creative, voice actress, writer, director, and illustrator behind SOULTRIAL. In our interview, Lavinia shares how this dark fantasy audio series came to life, the inspiration behind its world, and her advice for creators building their own original projects.
Before checking out the full interview, be sure to explore the official SOULTRIAL website to learn more about the project, its world, characters, artwork, and future updates.
1. Tell us about SOULTRIAL
SOULTRIAL is an original dark fantasy audio series (or podcast; audio drama; film without screen) and independent production created, directed, written and illustrated by German creative and voice actress Lavinia Duval/Lavinia A. (yours truly) in collaboration with a team of 30 creatives, including composers, vocalists and voice actors that have gathered from all over the world to realise the vision. It’s a production aimed at an international audience, rather than local.Next to me being the forerunner and in charge of various departments, it’s a team effort. The core team consists of two more members: Josh Cookson, our script and text editor (who really likes one of the animal companions in the story) and Marcus J.D., our linguistic support from Sweden who has helped us with the Swedish and Old Norse terminology, runic alphabet and cultural aspects. There’s also Kevin Algiers, one of our latest additions to the team, who’s been supporting me in my audio engineering journey and has been editing audio for the project.
Since the project’s establishment in 2023, SOULTRIAL has developed into a unique world of its own, flooding the centre with gritty storytelling and shattering character growth in a fictional setting combining Swedish culture with elements from Norse mythology, folk tales and topics such as mental health, philosophy, supernatural and spirituality.
The story is set in a place called Striga, the home of the Strigalver (Strigan Elves) where the barrier between the realm of the living and the realm of the souls, the Abyss, is thin. We accompany the two Strigalv brothers Velasan and Vhaelin on their paths as they navigate the past, their soul trials, political intrigues, supernatural anomalies, folk creatures and an even greater threat.
SOULTRIAL can be described as an audio series with the development process and art department of a game and the acting of a film. Currently, we’re developing the first part which will be a prequel. I originally wanted to write the main storyline but there was a redirection and we wanted to do a trial (ha!) first, so it will be the telling of events before the main arc. More I can’t spoil for now!
We advise listeners to be at least 18+ years of age due to some darker topics that may be anxiety inducing; it’s an emotionally raw and intense experience.
2. What inspired the story, art style, music style and overall project?
General Inspiration
Art, Concept & Design Inspiration
The art is done and directed by me in my signature style which is semi-realistic and helps to present the characters in detail. I’m a graphic designer on paper and a digital artist who’s always been interested in concept art for games (this reflects in ST’s art department especially as one of ST’s former concepts included a game). In regards to the design I wanted a clean and simple aesthetic that can be immediately recognised. Focus here was also on consistency and corporate identity/branding.
We had some conceptual changes throughout development. It was all a bit more high fantasy back in 2025, still dark but more epic. The dark aesthetic eventually took hold in FromSoftware games such as the Dark Souls series and Ninja Theory‘s Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice with original concepts and artworks leaning towards souls-like armours and sentient weapons… We eventually scratched that and combined the dark aesthetic with elements and historical aspects of Scandinavian cultures and Norse mythology.
I bought Norse history, mythology and folk books and spent a lot of time on the internet researching and talking to Marcus (linguistic/cultural support), making an effort to find the right balance between fiction and fact. At this point also a disclaimer: Not all that happens in SOULTRIAL should be considered accurate historical info. We brought in historical and mythological themes but a lot of it is also fantasy and entirely original and fictional.
Essentially, we grounded the series. We wanted to create a world where the supernatural anomalies and folk creatures would have more impact and are actively shaped, some of them are direct consequences of deeds and emotions… and quite terrifying. Shoutout to George R.R. Martin, who once mentioned in his blog article “Here There Be Dragons”: “Fantasy needs to be grounded. It is not simply a license to do anything you like.”—I agree. It makes it much more interesting and scary when the lines blur and they definitely do so in Striga.
Music Inspiration
In regards to the music, and during the making of Project CAELAR, I listened to a lot of metal music—still do, actually! Bands like Architects (UK), While She Sleeps, Bad Omens, Don Broco, Sleep Token, Poppy, Blindlove and Parkway Drive accompanied my creative process. It is safe to say that metal is not all I listen to. The metal genre keeps it real and there are so many important topics touched upon. Some of them you will find embedded in ST’s lore.
For the ST soundtrack, we were inspired by artists such as Wardruna, Eivør, FAUN, Heilung and Hindarfjäll. As many know, Wardruna’s Einar Selvik partnered with Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and Heilung collaborated with Hellblade. I think these groups became role models for the genre and what it represents; this special connection to the past, history, world and nature. There is something so beautiful and primal about their music. It makes you feel emotions that you did not know slumbered within you. You automatically return to the core of it all, the true self, if you will.
There is a misconception, however, that the mentioned groups make “viking music”, but there is not much information on what “viking music” really sounded like back then–at least that is what many sources claimed during my research, some of them mentioned flutes. The genre combines instruments and techniques from other cultural groups, too, such as mongolian throat singing. We would like to avoid the music we compose for ST to be considered “viking music”.
Our composers Louis Poole, Tim Philippsen and Jonathan Hällmayer (Studio Heta) together with our vocalists Hecate, Jade Sinner, Deedee Banks and myself, ventured into the style of these groups—some of them for the first time and they have been doing a great job at it. Our intention is to find a balance between genre-themed Norse ambience music, fantasy orchestra and film/game scoring. We also included “kulning”, an ancient Scandinavian (Swedish/Norwegian) herding call that was used to call back livestock to farms. You will hear all of us in the OST eventually!
3. Tell us about solo-developing a project and what advice you would give to those who want to create their own project?
This will be a wordy response, but if it motivates just one person, I consider it a mission accomplished.
My advice is: Start.
I know it sounds easier said than done, but it really is that simple. Many creatives never start and there’s so much lost when they don’t. Just do it. If you don’t, you will regret it and we’re all on borrowed time; we should use the time well.
Let me elaborate on how it started for me.
SOULTRIAL started with a character sketch in 2023 (reaching into 2024) under the previous name Project CAELAR. I remember I went to Josh (editor), and said: “I’ve got to do something with all of this potential, but if it’s my project… I’ll also have to write it, don’t I? But I’m not a writer.” I was so intimidated. At that point I had two projects scattered about, DAWN (Sci-Fi) and Project CAELAR (Fantasy), waiting to take shape, and that was over a year ago, around the time when I started with voice acting and discovered new ways of storytelling.
Sometimes we hold ourselves back. We want to do something that we care about and that truly matters to us but there are fears that keep us small—fear of failure, fear of being judged, fear of being considered “cringe”, fear of vulnerability (art is vulnerable)… For me it was mostly the fear of failing as I’ve never before had much recognition for my work, never had some sort of creative breakthrough in Germany, and I was very much scared of failing even though I didn’t have much to lose. I think it’s absolutely fair to be scared and intimidated, but at that moment you must break through, especially when it’s something you like doing. I did it, others did it, and those who doubt themselves: You can do it, too. Everything you need is already within you. You just have to embrace it. Be brave, be bold, make mistakes, stay curious and ask questions (assumptions are perilous). There will not be a time for you to be truly “ready”, else you will never be.
SOULTRIAL is lots of “first times” for me. I’m, in fact, the first person in my family to do something like this! It’s my first project and audio series, my first public, creative endeavour, my first experience as a producer, my first screenplay–actually, the first story like this that I’ve written in the English language. As a small creative director for a Dutch student magazine, I had worked with a small team of 5-6 creatives before, on SOULTRIAL it steadily went up to 30 people. You can imagine that the project overgrew me at a rapid pace. It was a huge shift for me. I had to teach myself a lot throughout the process and the transformation was brutal.
It was, despite me being organised, chaotic in the beginning. I had to orientate myself. I started working on the project every day. I went through a lot of heavy things while on the project, too, including grief/loss and various day job changes. My family supported the endeavour and they knew it was important to me but they were not entirely sold at first. Life generally seemed to pass me by while working on ST and sometimes I even started asking myself what I was doing (laugh). My family saw me less and witnessed me working on the project day and night; that created friction at some point. It was not easy, but thankfully, this changed with time.
There was some storytelling but most of it has been scratched by now. It was a lot of scribbling notes on paper and into my notebook before I started working on it digitally. I started to redirect the story and build the world, created a codex, had long nights (and messages) with Josh about lore (shoutout to Josh and his patience), and continued working on the art and the design. Then I created the logo and the graphic design assets, the branding, and it developed from there. My developer diary exceeds 160 entries and so many hours of work. It’s insane being on the inside and witnessing firsthand how much effort is poured into the media we see every day.
When the foundation was fairly stable, I started writing. In a difficult, transitional time in my life, I was working at a horse riding club as a stable girl and each day after work, I would go home and write for 6-8h straight, sometimes more. I kept coming back to the project—even if it was just to write 1-5 lines on a bad day. That was the true “soul trial” for me personally. It has been a constant effort and it took a lot of discipline and consistency, precise planning and multitasking, and respectful and clear communication with the team. Sure, there were phases where I was tired, but I just kept going. I developed a habit.
If you’ve got an idea, take action. Set a goal, even a small one, or an intention that keeps you motivated. Be willing to emerge yourself in it, explore ideas, teach yourself new things, but finish what you start. Do it yourself for yourself, first. External validation really does not matter. If you move with intention, it’s contagious, really. Define what success means to you. You have got to enjoy the process of it all. Keep moving and changing, be receptive to what comes in during the process. Don’t look to GenAI to make it easier for you (there are so many things wrong with GenAI but that is a whole article by itself). Be original. Collaborate with others. Have fun!
And most importantly (one of my own quotes): Fire over Fortune.
Choose the power of fire, the more difficult path that may be more painful, riskier but ultimately more rewarding and strengthening than the easy route. Put passion before any illusion of fame, wealth or success.
4. What has been the most rewarding part about this project so far?
Everything. This interview, too!
I think seeing your characters and world come to life is one of the greatest moments ever, but what has been rewarding for me personally is that I have outgrown myself as a person and creative. I developed valuable leadership qualities. I became more patient, more communicative, more aware, more empathetic, more focused and I learned new things–audio editing, for example. Having worked as a scuba diving instructor, first aid instructor and language tutor before, I’ve always strived to be a transformative leader—inspire others, provoke growth, but not everyone responds well to this type of leader. Feedback is where some creatives end and the ego starts, but it’s never personal.
It’s not always simple as a woman in leadership either. There’s still a lot of discrimination and the expectations seem to be higher by default.
It’s a bit insane, really. I’m doing all this and there are so many people with me. In the scale of the world, it’s so small, but growing up in humble and grounded circumstances, this is such a big endeavour for me. I currently reside in rural Germany far away from the centre of entertainment and networking, and it’s great to be able to shed some light on SOULTRIAL.
The development process has been a bit of a slow burn but good things take time and I’m not in a rush. It’s great seeing it all taking shape and I truly appreciate the people that have been accompanying me, some of them I now consider friends. It’s a lovely, supportive group.
Let me tell you about that one time when the voice actor of Velasan performed a vomiting scene so well, he needed a bucket–actually it was a Warhammer lid of something (laugh). Nothing happened, fortunately, but it will always be one of my favourite stories to tell!
Another funny phenomena is the relationship between the actor of Velasan, Adam Schneider, and the actor of Vhaelin, Daniel Denova. They’re a wonderful duo to work with, an absolute joy to be around. Even though the recording was asynchronous, they started bickering. Daniel was making fun of Adam in our sessions, Adam was making fun of Daniel. It was just them, in-character, arguing through a wall. I was the wall! (laugh)
We had some wonderful team events e.g. celebrating the first anniversary in April this year through an internal ST trivia with improvisation acting and other funny tasks. Gosh, that was hilarious! The team’s dedication throughout all of this has been unmatched and I’m so extremely grateful.
It’s truly a great time.
5. What are the goals for the project?
The immediate external goal is the release. Once that is done, I would like to continue the series, write new material and collaborate with more voice actors and creatives, perhaps see if we can expand it to some animated material, at least. Part of me would love to pitch the series as a film or a game, or write a book. I can plan, but the future is not something I can predict.
A logistical goal would be funding, which at this point in time requires a lot of research on my part and heavily depends on the strict German tax departments/regulations in regards to kickstarters/crowdfunding. That is all very uncertain currently. Access to budget would open up a lot of new possibilities for the series and it would also be good for the cast.
A charity goal would be to donate to the mental health organisation “Heads Above The Waves” in Cardiff, Wales. They do something amazing for young people with mental health struggles and I passively collaborated with them before by participating in a creative project for a Sleep Token fanbook where I submitted some art. I hope we get to donate to them with the support of others!
The internal goal is to maintain a creative and safe space for artists to collaborate, indulge in their crafts and do something amazing. Something that I truly wish for, is that SOULTRIAL will inspire others. I would love to see more creatives take initiative, more people getting into art and teaching themselves. We would like to spread awareness that human creativity is alive and well, and that it is now more needed than ever. Artists don’t need GenAI to create but GenAI needs us (I use the word “need”, because it is a codependent relationship, GenAI is dependent on artists). I could protest against GenAI and stop creating because it feeds on our work but, honestly, I (very spitefully) persist. There’s no reasonable justification on why anyone should use it. We’ve created without AI up to this point. I don’t know why that should stop. Imperfection and the human experience are what makes artistic endeavors of all kind so great, individual and unique, because everyone perceives and processes life differently.
6. Where can folks support your work?
We can be found on Instagram @officialsoultrial and on Bluesky @officialsoultrial.bsky.social. Once we release, we will also be available on Spotify and Apple, and a few more niche, podcast-centred platforms, so keep an eye out for that!
If you’re interested in the art and general information, you can visit our website: https://soultrial.crd.co/
It’s been a pleasure connecting with you, All Ages Of Geek. This means a lot to me and the ST team. Thank you for the opportunity! Stay sharp, for we will soon have some wonderful announcements to share!
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