A Different Kind of Haunting /// Music Monday #87

 Okay, this one's gonna be a quickie, because I'm not feeling particularly creative today.

Our song for today is none other than . . .

"In Hushed Whispers" from Dragon Age: Inquisition

Composed by Trevor Morris

I was wracking my brain for another spooky song to include this year when the Dragon Age: Inquisition soundtrack came to mind. When I listened to "In Hushed Whispers" again, I knew I had to include it. Not only is it one of my favorite songs from the OST, but it also fits the bill for October's song selection. As the post title says, it's a different kind of haunting. It's not in your face or cliché in its creepy tones, but those persistent strings send a chill down my spine. The song is dark and ominous . . . yet it also feels mournful.

Apparently in the game (potential spoiler alert? I've never played it, so I don't know how bad of a spoiler it is), this song plays when you do a certain mission if you chose the mage class. It involves you seeing the future of the world if you don't save it from the approaching evil. That's why a lot of people like to choose the mage, because that mission heightens the plot tension and makes the stakes feel even more real. Honestly, when I read about this, it alone makes me want to play the game. I feel like more games should use this approach, provided they pull it off well.

On another note, I plan on using this song when I novelize Darkened Slumber, my pseudo-feudal Japan fantasy retelling of Sleeping Beauty (say that three times fast). Very few people have read the original novella; in it, Karnu--the story's villain--was forced to become a ronin when he refused to run his province well and lost his honor in the process. He becomes hellbent on unleashing his revenge against those who wronged him, which entails a whole city falling asleep.

In the novel, I'm choosing to make his character a lot more interesting by giving him almost a complete one-eighty in his motives and personality. He instead tries his utmost to run his province despite everything going against, yet winds up looking like the opposite (haven't figured out all the details). When he becomes a ronin, he seeks out a way to prove that he did do his best, and that his life has become hell after losing his honor. What ensues is that he uses the Eldspin, a sword with unfathomable powers, in an attempt to simply teach those who did him wrong and accidentally puts a sleeping curse on the capital. As he tries to figure out how to undo his own mistake while the heroes seek out a way to stop him (again haven't worked out all the kinks, but I imagine both scenarios are the result of a big misunderstanding), he struggles with the blade and the entity/force behind it as they try to drag him into a state of a loss of control. It kind of makes him an antihero, or perhaps an accidental antagonist.

Basically what I'm trying to say is that I'm using the song for the scene when he is forced from his leadership position and becomes a ronin, but I ended up rambling and now really wanting to write this thing. So much for a short post.

So that's that! What're your thoughts on the song? How do you feel when books/movies/games show you the possible future if the antagonist wins? Does this song inspire any of your art of any kind?