[R&R]

big ass troll

Diablo 3 potentially has an ARG (alternate reality game) contained in it! Starting at Whimsyshire! : Diablo

submitted 14 hours ago* by OminousLatinWord

Whimsyshire. We all know about it. Blizzard's secret level.

Now, this is where it gets interesting. The music for this level is odd. Very odd. Link to the music: Diablo 3 - Whimsyshire Music - YouTube

If you listen to it, the music sounds a lot like a song in reverse, right? Right. Reversing the music, you get this: Diablo 3 - Whimsyshire Music Backwards - YouTube

This is where things start to get exciting. This reversing of Whimsyshire's music results in a tune very similar to Ravel - Gaspard de la Nuit. Link: Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, II. Le Gibet - YouTube

Edit 3: Here are all 3 of the songs

*Ondine: Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, I. Ondine - YouTube *

*Le Gibet: Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, II. Le Gibet - YouTube *

*Scarbo: Ravel: Gaspard de la Nuit, III. Scarbo - YouTube *

Hopefully this helps!

So what does this mean? Blizzard made a reference to a song in the game. That should be the end of that, right? Wrong.

So I did some research. From Wikipedia (Gaspard de la nuit - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) "Gaspard de la nuit is an old French expression for the Devil" (!!!)

Moreover, the piano piece (the Whimsyshire theme played backwards) has 3 movements, each based on a poem by Aloysius Bertrand.

The poems which the piece is based off are entitled: Scarbo, Ondine, Le Gebit.

Scarbo english translation: Poetry - Scarbo by Aloysius Bertrand

Ondine english translation: A Man of Culture: French Poetry III - Aloysius Bertrand - Ondine

Le Gebit english translation: A Man of Culture: French Poetry IV - Aloysius Bertrand - Le gibet

(thanks to overview for donmanzo)

Woah! I decided to tackle "Ondine" first. I was going to use the poems to figure out if there was more hidden things in the game, that could only be found through the use of the poems. The first few stanzas stood out to me.

Specifically, "lit by the gloomy rays of the moon. / And here, in a gown of watered silk, / gazing from my chateau (large french castle) terrace, / I contemplate the beautiful starry night / and the restless sleeping lake" Things just got interesting. A " Restless Beautiful sleeping lake", that is a paradox right? Or is it talking about a river?

This image was posted awhile back:

Well, who would have guessed it?

http://oi49.tinypic.com/vov60h.jpg (credit stylepoints99)

Clearer image: http://i.imgur.com/jDVxZ.jpg

You can make out a moon, a soldier who is armed with a shield and something unintelligible. A cross is in the background.

EDIT 1: I don't think that is a cross. I think that is the gibbet referred to in the poem (Credit RMessMann)

It's very gloomy, and reflects off of a "restless sleeping lake". What is there to reflect? Nothing.

This is as far as I have gotten on the treasure trail. I plan on continuing tomorrow by analyzing the other two poems. This is very interesting!

I also sent this to my English teacher. Maybe he could offer some insights.

Original Thread from which I compiled info.

Edit 2: We might have a lead

TLDR: reverse whimsy music and get song, song sounds similar to songs written based on poems that have themes directly connecting to diablo. Begin search.

*edit: While there seem to be a lot of parallels, it seems that this might just be an elaborate Easter egg. I wouldn't write it off the boar just yet as we might see more on it later in time. The reflection in the river seems to be a graphical glitch, as well. *

Another edit: I'm at school right now and I will update the thread when I get back! I have been reading all of your responses so keep them coming! The search is seeming more and more likely after all!