Skyrim Composer Jeremy Soule Accused of Rape

Jeremy Soule, the composer perhaps best known for his work on The Elder Scrolls and Guild Wars, has just been accused of rape by indie developer Nathalie Lawhead.

In the blog post making this announcement, Nathalie says she was hired on November 4th of 2008 to work in an unnamed studio in Vancouver to design and build an ARG for their new IP. It was a job she claimed she was both excited for and “desperately needed”, as it would look good on her resume and it was supposed to be her big break. This was also, apparently, where she met Jeremy Soule, who “knew the situation… and took advantage of his position to do what he did”.

She alleges that they started as friends, and he acted like a mentor for her during this troubling time in her life (the project was plagued with poor management, and she was having visa issues). They grew closer, and eventually, he started making demands of her.

“He made advances on me and I explained that I didn’t want this and wanted a friendship. He was very threatening, and didn’t listen. He made it clear that it’s “him or bust”.
He raped me.
Throughout this time Jeremy acted like a victim, and blamed women he was in relationships with (or forced relationships on) for what he was doing.”

She didn’t act because, well, he’s a man of power and influence and no one would have believed her, combined with the sheer shock of the incident. Following, he remained in touch and apparently continued to use his influence over her to make her do things like make a website for him.

The story goes on, with attached emails that were allegedly sent between involved parties. It’s worth the read, as it is very intense and thorough.

The question, however, is if any of this is credible. To date, there have been no other accusations or claims made against Jeremy Soule, and he doesn’t so much as even have a “controversies” tab in Wikipedia. That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, it’s entirely believable that a man in his position would use it to influence women in such a volatile field, but right now we’ve only got one source from one person. Like it or not, that’s not nearly enough to crucify someone.

Still, when one woman finally breaks the mold and takes that step, usually any other victims, if any exist, will come forward and offer supporting and their own stories.

In the meantime, the first step will be waiting for a response from Soule of his lawyers. It’s not unprecedented for some men to admit to past mistakes, but I suspect in this case it’s going to be a full-blown rejection. And then this is gonna get real ugly, real fast.

But we’ll have to see…