diff --git a/game/Assets/Data/Dialogue/Dialogue Settings.asset b/game/Assets/Data/Dialogue/Dialogue Settings.asset
index a9183a3..2012420 100644
--- a/game/Assets/Data/Dialogue/Dialogue Settings.asset	
+++ b/game/Assets/Data/Dialogue/Dialogue Settings.asset	
@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ MonoBehaviour:
   m_Name: Dialogue Settings
   m_EditorClassIdentifier: 
   _hideAfter: 5
+  _fmodKeyPrefix: event:/Character/
diff --git a/game/Assets/Prefabs/Player.prefab b/game/Assets/Prefabs/Player.prefab
index 227982f..69f9169 100644
--- a/game/Assets/Prefabs/Player.prefab
+++ b/game/Assets/Prefabs/Player.prefab
@@ -323,9 +323,9 @@ GameObject:
   m_Component:
   - component: {fileID: 13726837293638830}
   - component: {fileID: 13726837293638818}
-  - component: {fileID: 13726837293638819}
   - component: {fileID: 13726837293638816}
   - component: {fileID: 13726837293638817}
+  - component: {fileID: 9057303937983535475}
   m_Layer: 0
   m_Name: Camera
   m_TagString: Untagged
@@ -390,14 +390,6 @@ Camera:
   m_OcclusionCulling: 1
   m_StereoConvergence: 10
   m_StereoSeparation: 0.022
---- !u!81 &13726837293638819
-AudioListener:
-  m_ObjectHideFlags: 0
-  m_CorrespondingSourceObject: {fileID: 0}
-  m_PrefabInstance: {fileID: 0}
-  m_PrefabAsset: {fileID: 0}
-  m_GameObject: {fileID: 13726837293638831}
-  m_Enabled: 1
 --- !u!114 &13726837293638816
 MonoBehaviour:
   m_ObjectHideFlags: 0
@@ -444,6 +436,20 @@ MonoBehaviour:
   m_EditorClassIdentifier: 
   _settings: {fileID: 11400000, guid: 995f378ab762cd344b7a6d108f049191, type: 2}
   _inputHandler: {fileID: 13726836969441782}
+--- !u!114 &9057303937983535475
+MonoBehaviour:
+  m_ObjectHideFlags: 0
+  m_CorrespondingSourceObject: {fileID: 0}
+  m_PrefabInstance: {fileID: 0}
+  m_PrefabAsset: {fileID: 0}
+  m_GameObject: {fileID: 13726837293638831}
+  m_Enabled: 1
+  m_EditorHideFlags: 0
+  m_Script: {fileID: 11500000, guid: 86c6556701af9e04380698b89f691b6e, type: 3}
+  m_Name: 
+  m_EditorClassIdentifier: 
+  attenuationObject: {fileID: 0}
+  ListenerNumber: -1
 --- !u!1 &13726837642651461
 GameObject:
   m_ObjectHideFlags: 0
diff --git a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueDatabase.cs b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueDatabase.cs
index 256964c..b127959 100644
--- a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueDatabase.cs
+++ b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueDatabase.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 using System.Collections;
 using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.IO;
+using System.Linq;
 using System.Security.Cryptography.X509Certificates;
 using System.Text;
 using System.Threading;
@@ -139,6 +140,8 @@ public static partial class DialogueDatabase
 
     private static readonly Dictionary<string, string> _dict = new Dictionary<string, string>();
 
+    public static string[] Keys => _dict.Keys.ToArray();
+
     public static string ReadDialogue(string key)
     {
         return _dict.ContainsKey(key)
diff --git a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSettings.cs b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSettings.cs
index b681422..0503f0a 100644
--- a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSettings.cs
+++ b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSettings.cs
@@ -6,7 +6,8 @@ using UnityEngine;
 public class DialogueSettings : ScriptableObject
 {
     public float HideAfter => _hideAfter;
-        
-    [SerializeField]
-    private float _hideAfter;
-}
+    [SerializeField] private float _hideAfter;
+
+    public string FMODPrefix => _fmodKeyPrefix;
+    [SerializeField] private string _fmodKeyPrefix;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSystem.cs b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSystem.cs
index 2287db3..c1ea9b2 100644
--- a/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSystem.cs
+++ b/game/Assets/Scripts/Dialogue/DialogueSystem.cs
@@ -1,28 +1,63 @@
 using System;
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using UnityEngine;
-
 #if UNITY_EDITOR
 using UnityEditor;
+
 #endif
 
 [CreateAssetMenu(menuName = "KernelPanic/Dialogue/Dialogue System")]
 public partial class DialogueSystem : ScriptableObject
 {
     [SerializeField] private DialogueSettings _settings;
-    
+
     // https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2282476/actiont-vs-delegate-event 
     public event EventHandler<DialogueLine> onDialogueLine;
 
+    private readonly Dictionary<string, string> _fmodKeyCache = new Dictionary<string, string>();
+
+    private void OnEnable()
+    {
+        // cache all dialogue keys for FMOD at start to avoid allocations later
+        foreach (var key in DialogueDatabase.Keys)
+        {
+            _fmodKeyCache[key] = $"{_settings.FMODPrefix}{key}";
+        }
+    }
+
     public void PlayLine(string key)
     {
+        // retrieve cached key
+        var fmodKey = _fmodKeyCache[key];
+        var eventDescription = FMODUnity.RuntimeManager.GetEventDescription(fmodKey);
+
         DialogueLine dl;
         dl.text = DialogueDatabase.ReadDialogue(key);
-        // TODO: get dialogue line duration from FMOD
+        // default duration to show ui elements for
         dl.duration = _settings.HideAfter;
-        
+
+        // read audio data out of FMOD, check if event exists
+        if (eventDescription.isValid())
+        {
+            // assign values and play audio
+
+            // get dialogue line duration from FMOD
+            eventDescription.getLength(out int ms);
+
+            // get length gives us a value in milliseconds so it needs to be converted to seconds
+            // before assignment
+            dl.duration = ms / 1000f;
+
+            // event is valid
+            FMODUnity.RuntimeManager.PlayOneShot(fmodKey);
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            // no event available boooooooo
+            Debug.LogError($"FMOD event desc for key {fmodKey} is not valid", this);
+        }
+
         onDialogueLine?.Invoke(this, dl);
-        
-        // TODO: tell FMOD to play the key
     }
 }
 
@@ -33,6 +68,7 @@ public struct DialogueLine
 }
 
 #region Editor
+
 #if UNITY_EDITOR
 
 [CustomEditor(typeof(DialogueSystem))]
@@ -60,5 +96,5 @@ public class DialogueSystemEditor : Editor
 }
 
 #endif
-#endregion
 
+#endregion
\ No newline at end of file