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

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:



If you listen to it, the music sounds a lot like a song in reverse, right? Right. Reversing the music, you get this:



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:



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

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaspard_de_la_nuit) "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: http://english.agonia.net/index.php/poetry/164745/Scarbo
Ondine english translation: http://shadowlight9.blogspot.com/2011/04/french-poetry-iii-aloysius-bertrand.html
Le Gebit english translation: http://shadowlight9.blogspot.com/2011/04/french-poetry-iv-aloysius-bertrand-le.html

Here are all 3 of the songs
Ondine: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-LDHH8FDi0
Le Gibet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrHkclI98lw
Scarbo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmOYFjZxhBA

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:

Here is a Clearer image:

You can make out a moon, a soldier who is armed with a shield and something unintelligible. I think that is the gibbet referred to in the poem. 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!

Posted in: easter eggs, lore