Café de Nuit

Here is an interesting question I have been musing over lately. What would happen if Strahd was able to win the heart of Tatyana or her reincarnation anyways? What would Strahd do if that was to happen? also what would happen to Barovia if Strahd was ever able to win Tatyana's love?

This is just something that has been intresting me lately so I wanted to know what others thought.

herkles wrote:Here is an interesting question I have been musing over lately. What would happen if Strahd was able to win the heart of Tatyana or her reincarnation anyways? What would Strahd do if that was to happen? also what would happen to Barovia if Strahd was ever able to win Tatyana's love?

This is just something that has been intresting me lately so I wanted to know what others thought.

That would be releasing him from his curse as darklord, wouldn't it?

There is some canonical precedent:Soth escaped Ravenloft altogether and Nathan Timothy escaped his prison/position as darklord of Arkandale [though he is still tied to the rivers, he can at least roam more freely these days, IIRC].

herkles wrote:Here is an interesting question I have been musing over lately. What would happen if Strahd was able to win the heart of Tatyana or her reincarnation anyways? What would Strahd do if that was to happen? also what would happen to Barovia if Strahd was ever able to win Tatyana's love?

This is just something that has been intresting me lately so I wanted to know what others thought.

There were some indications in P.N. Elrod's novels "I, Strehd" and "I, Strahd: The War against Azalin" that he did occasionally win the heart of a reincarnation.

The girl died quickly thereafter.

whalejudge wrote:

herkles wrote:Here is an interesting question I have been musing over lately. What would happen if Strahd was able to win the heart of Tatyana or her reincarnation anyways? What would Strahd do if that was to happen? also what would happen to Barovia if Strahd was ever able to win Tatyana's love?

This is just something that has been intresting me lately so I wanted to know what others thought.

There were some indications in P.N. Elrod's novels "I, Strehd" and "I, Strahd: The War against Azalin" that he did occasionally win the heart of a reincarnation.

The girl died quickly thereafter.

Ah, the DPs just twisting the knife!

Well I mean if strahd was able to win the heart of Tatyana or one of her reincarnation for some length of time before the dark powers decided to screw with one of them.

Basically, whatever you want. If Strahd is released from his course, and Barovia doesn't suddenly disappear, someone (maybe Gundar or Malocchio) should rise as new Darklord of Barovia. Strahd may or may not retain political power. Another interesting option: to win Tatyana's heart, Strahd commits another act of ultimate darkness, changing his curse while not releasing him from the mists.

From what I understand from Strahd curse, he will be able to win Tatyana heart when he will more or less be free from his craving to seduce her.

In the case of Strahd, the implication of this are in my opinion far reaching. Strahd seem so deep in the hole of darkness, that I think his redemption can only come if he realize the evil that he do and then kill himself.

As for what happen to the land of Barovia, there are some example of what happen when a Darklord lose his Darklordship:

-The land simply choose someone else to be Darklord: ex,: Sithicus, Verbrek
-The current land is divide between the existing land: Gundarak, Necropolis
-The land disappear. the land of Kas and Vechna
-The domain change and/or move: Arak

In the case of Strahd thought, the implication could be far more reaching. Barovia is the first and angular stone of Ravenloft. What will happen if the foundation crumble? Could it lead to a time of unparallel darkness in the world? Or would it destroy the Ravenloft that we know, the darkpowers restarting a new one from the grounds up?

Could the darklords ever modify strahd's curse if he ever was to get the love of tatyana or at least get her to be with him?

Considering how little Tatyana and Strahd ever had in common, and how she was as captivated by Sergei as Strahd was captivated by her, I think if he ever succeeded in turning a Tatyana-clone into a vampiric bride, she would A) get on his nerves within days with her peasant's viewpoints and pacifistic revulsion for his war stories, and B) immediately start chasing after a series of young Barovian men who look like Sergei.

Yeah it's just not meant to be given their personalities. Of course that doesn't mean Strahd will ever stop trying. I mean let's be honest, you want what you can't have.

herkles wrote:Could the darklords ever modify strahd's curse if he ever was to get the love of tatyana or at least get her to be with him?

I suppose they COULD. My understanding of his curse, though, is that part of it is simply that he can never win her and have her with him.

If old Strahd were to win over Tatyana, either his precious baby brother would show up to scuttle everything, or he'd be forced to choose between her and his rule of Barovia-and he'd probably go with being king over getting a fine piece of reincarnated tail.

Or, in the unlikely event that he actually did win her duplicate over, and get along with her, the Dark Powers could bring the REAL Tatyana's ghost back to confront him. How's he going to justify murdering Sergei to have Tatyana, once she's forced him to admit he never even knew her well enough to recognize the DPs have been dangling fakes in front of him, all this time?

Rotipher of the FoS wrote:Considering how little Tatyana and Strahd ever had in common, and how she was as captivated by Sergei as Strahd was captivated by her, I think if he ever succeeded in turning a Tatyana-clone into a vampiric bride, she would A) get on his nerves within days with her peasant's viewpoints and pacifistic revulsion for his war stories, and B) immediately start chasing after a series of young Barovian men who look like Sergei.

I think there is a good argument/curse in this. They might well live together in misery as Strahd yearns for the idea of the woman he loved ... which is really what he is obsessed with, an image - and she constantly strives to find happiness and punish him for what he has done - the curse of vampirism having curdled the pure cream of her innocence. Together forever, eternally apart, he would have damned her with his touch and you can be sure if another incarnation of her now lost spirit were to materialize in the future she'd be sure to make sure he never got his hands on it.