Composing the music for “Pathfinder: Lands of the Linnorm Kings” took me on a journey of two years. It has been incredibly exciting to dive into this world, as well as daunting, considering the scope of it. I wanted to write music that would support the players to fill this region with life, while leaving room for interpretation and freedom in the game.
One of the first challenges was to decide where to put my focus. I knew I wouldn’t be able to score every possible aspect of the setting, so I decided to dedicate this soundtrack to the places and people of this world. What atmosphere and vibe would you encounter in each corner of the Linnorm Kingdoms?
I think it’s not difficult to recognize which gaming soundtracks have been inspiring me over the years to end up with the specific sound I compose. Yet, many ideas were gathered during my several hiking holidays in Norway and Sweden. I feel that northern landscapes propose a strong musical language. And while there are obvious choices for depicting Viking culture with Tagelharpas, bone flutes, and mouth harps, I wanted to have a classic, orchestral fundament for most of the compositions.
Furthermore, I deliberately didn’t want to go for unobtrusive background music, rather making a conscious impression instead. Being an active part of the gaming session, rather than a mere side effect. Which is why it’s more dynamic and expressive than many of my previous works.
When composing for the numerous regions, I let myself be guided by the mood I would pick up while reading the lore books. For each region I chose colors, motifs and harmonies that would accompany that—like providing a frame and room for the players. As an example, “Broken Bay” is heavily about the constant changes in weather. It’s cold and rough, and out of nowhere, you have a few rays of warm sunlight peeking through the clouds, while being pummeled by ice rain just a few seconds later. I was looking for ways to let players feel the situation and give a glimpse into the possibilities of discovery on their quests. It needed to feel alive, connected to the people and culture of the locations—also a reason why I chose to add three tavern tracks that each fit a unique mood. One of those pieces includes a performance by folk violinist Elisabeth Werner.
[Spoiler alert ahead!]
While the Linnorm Kingdoms are an area to experience epic quests of all sorts, the center of the scenario revolves around the linnorms and the question, is there a hero strong enough to unite all kingdoms under one banner—perhaps after defeating Fafnheir? This question kept me thinking for so long, that I only came around to working on the linnorm themes at the very end.
The beauty of music is that it may leave room for interpretation—you can stack multiple layers of meaning into it. You can also stray from the core topic to a certain degree. And you may even use interpretations that contradict each other while staying valid in their own right.
It’s an obvious choice to find a way to kill Fafnheir while dodging the fatal death curse that would revive the linnorm. But somehow, eventually, a different interpretation crossed my mind.
I was wondering whether the linnorm lore would have a meta interpretation pointing towards deep psychology, where dragons are an archetypal symbol depicting the dark side of the inner psyche. What if a linnorm isn’t a beast to be slain, but a shadow reflection of yourself? In other words: The dragon is you, a part of you. Perhaps this explains the death curse you can succumb to after slaying a linnorm, because you essentially killed a part of yourself—which has consequences!
Taking a look at the lore, there are several ways in which each Linnorm King dealt with this shadow. Opir Eightfinger dragged a rotten linnorm head into his city, claiming a questionable defeat over it. He denies his shadow, and the truth, whether or not it’s his victory, now has power over him! The other kings killed their linnorm. They faced their shadow, but they split it off. White Estrid went further and beat a linnorm into submission. She dominates her shadow. Is this the best way? She rules over the Ironbound Isles, but still, didn’t unite the kingdoms.
So, I thought, to accomplish that, you’d have to do something that would surpass all else. And considering this meta aspect of deep psychology, the solution may lie in integrating the shadow: Don’t kill the linnorm, as it belongs to the world, accept and recognize it as a part of it. Or, from a different perspective: The whole is more powerful than the (shadow) fragment, which is how the conflict dissolves. The way to play this out is not for me to decide, but I want to propose musically: As long as you fight by force, you may not succeed.
To achieve this, the Fafnheir theme uses many stylistic choices. An example is dissonant symmetric chords that could resolve to the home key at any moment, yet their tension keeps escalating and moving further. It culminates in a final chord, sounding the dissonance and resolution at the same time. You get to pick which one is true; it’s your choice! Like anything you do. You still want to slay the beast? Go ahead, the music has your back. You want to explore alternative, meaningful solutions? You may find the answers. The music simply opens the room for you to act.
When I finished the soundtrack in January 2026, it was an emotional moment. While composing I had been travelling the Linnorm Kingdoms so much in my head, it felt like leaving a place that has become very familiar to me. I have learned many valuable lessons, too. Many technical ones, but I was reinforced with my dedication to making a soundtrack about more than just the media at hand. I realize a lot from feedback, that meaning is an essential part of everything we do, music included. So are the tabletop games we play: It’s not just about experiencing exciting stories and quests, it’s about creating lasting memories that carry meaning for ourselves and the folks we play with. And I’m incredibly grateful that my music is allowed to be a part of that.
Erik Rettig (ASKII)
This composition diary was written by Erik Rettig (ASKII), who composed the Lands of the Linnorm Kings soundtrack for Michael Ghelfi Studios — the world's largest TTRPG audio library and an official audio partner of Paizo Inc.