That's perfectly fine as a justification, and I'd encourage any DM weirded out by the incest thing to use it. But that said, the impression I got from everything I've ever read on Strahd (including I, Strahd and the decades of vampire lore upon which Strahd was based) was that his lust for Tatyana was primarily of a sexual nature. He does, as you say, seek out youth/the roads not taken/etc., and claiming Tatyana—a symbol of the youth and beauty Strahd has lost—is the way for this old man to reclaim his youth. Or so it has always seemed to me.Five wrote:Christian/Adam and Eve digs aside (biting tongue! Heh), the incest angle assumes that Strahd's obsession with Tatyana is sexually-based.
What if Strahd's obsession isn't sexually-based?
Strahd, human Strahd, was a warlord who got whatever it was that he wanted. So much so that he became so apathetic as to begin obsessing on his mortality/himself. Sergei was, to him, all that he could never have again. Youth, turning back of time, the roads not taken, etc. And Tatyana was, and still is, an extension of Sergei. One might even say externalised Sergei, or, Strahd's dwindling/deflected guilt at being so jealous of Sergei (his own wasted youth; missed opportunities etc), and still (deflected) guilt over his own bloody hands in his brother's death.
In short, Tatyana/Sergei/undoing of wasted years/guiltless conscience is something, the one and only thing, he can never possess. His lust for Tatyana is not sexual; it's in part a lust for Final Rest, though filtered through a multi-faceted lens of Ego, Guilt, Madness, etc.
Tatyana is Strahd's rusted angel. Over the centuries, depending on your personal timeline, Strahd still doesn't see it, or get what she truly represents.
Feeling sympathy for Strahd? You shouldn't. His pact with "Death" (as defined by YOU) says it all about how far this monster will go to get what he wants, and how far he'll go to avoid looking himself square in the mirror...
Just a few surface thoughts. Alternate take. Whatever you want to call it. Not sure if any of makes sense though, outside of my head. ?
Again, DMs can and should be free to explain it as they like, and this is a great explanation. Just not one I've seen evidenced in the lore from my readings.
— onmyoji