Lord Milos Donskoy

Lord Milos Donskoy (more commonly referred to in the text as Lord Donskoy) is the a fictional character from and the main antagonist of the Ravenloft product line novel To Sleep With Evil. In the game universe, Donskoy is the new husband of the main protagonist, Marguerite Donskoy, nee De Boche. Most of the story of To Sleep With Evil focuses on Marguerite's attempts to learn about Donskoy's mysterious past and then escape him.

Although never explicitly called out as a darklord, it can be inferred that he is the darklord of his own unnamed domain that is a a small realm enveloped in the Mists. In TSWE, he suffers a terrible curse, is marked by his sins, cannot leave his land, and can prevent people from leaving by effectively closing the borders.

Background

Events Before the Start of To Sleep With Evil

As Lord Donskoy is a character from a novel, his past has never been presented in any strict details or chronological timeline. In universe, Donskoy's recollection of his past is by his own admission broken and incomplete, as it has rotted along with many other things in his domain due to his curse. At one point in TSWE, Donskoy discusses his former business as a procurer for Azalin. He apparently made a very strong business out of this, as he refers to his hope in his to-be-born son to rekindle it in the novel. Across the course of the book, Lord Donskoy demonstrates a past with numerous unsavory associates, including Jacqueline Montarri.

At some point, Donskoy became lord of a castle. According to Donskoy's relling of his past to Marguerite in TSWE, his lordship (nor anything else under his possession) was not claimed through "possess without benefit of blood—not my own anyway." This may be taken to imply a number of events leading to becoming lord of the castle, from Azalin as a payment for services rendered, killing the previous noble line and taking over their keep, or becoming a darklord (provided the below events were not what caused him to become a darklord.)

At some point, Donskoy became a darklord, bound to a domain given no proper name but referred to most often as Donskoy's land. The exact specifics of the seminal event are unknown. However, there are a few candidate events. Ramus states in the book that Donskoy is responsible for murdering Ramus' Vistani clan. In the prologue of TSWE, a figure referred to as the voyeur observes and eventually kills a number of Vistani women during their celebration of Lunaset] and conjuring of Ravallah. As he kills them, the voyeur proclaiming himself to be Ravallah. The voyeur is described as the lord of a local manor and a leader of a local gang of thieves. This in almost all certainty refers to Donskoy.

Another possible (though perhaps less likely) seminal event is the murder of his own child and driving his wife to suicide. According to Zosia, Valeska's midwife and nurse, Valeska was a Vistani and his first wife, though the marriage was unsanctioned by her tribe. In Valeska's pregnancy, he tore their child from her womb and killed it. She cursed him saying, "The seeds you have sown shall seal your damnation. The blood of your blood shall bring you to your knees." before, according to Ljubo, she jumped from a ledge to her death.

Whatever the truth is regarding Donskoy's past, Donskoy seems to have, according to what Ramus tells Marguerite de Boche, formed a bond with Ramus, a wandering Vistani trapped in Donskoy's domain, and Sozia, the former midwife of Veleska.

During To Sleep With Evil

At the start of the book, Marguerite arrives in Dunskoy's realm, having been delivered by a Vistani Arturi. She is greeted by Ekhart and Ljubo, Lord Donskoy's servants. At Donskoy's keep, Marguerite meets two more servants. Zosia is Donskoy's cook, and Yelena is his maid.

Donskoy himself is at the beginning loving and caring but become a harsher, more controlling abuser as time goes on. He restricts where she goes and what she does until it gets to the point where he control her entire day and locks her in her room at night. When they fail to produce a child, Donskoy begins to make threats, even going so far as to threaten to sell Marguerite into slavery. At the same time, Donskoy becomes less faithful, starting to hold dalliances with Jacqueline Montarri, now his mistress. Marguerite later discovers that Donskoy and his men along with Montarri murder travelers lost in the Mists once per month.

Frightened about her life, Marguerite attempts to escape twice, but she fails both times. Ultimately, Marguerite becomes a pawn in a scheme by Ramus and Sozia to destroy Lord Donskoy. Obeying the advice of Sozia and getting help fro Ramus, Margureite at last becomes pregnant. However, when the baby arrives, it is not a human child but rather a snake of shadow. Sozia reveals she has enacted Veleska's curse (see above). The serpent and Donskoy do battle, and he throws it from the top of a tower. However, when it hits the ground, he falls into a heap, his body bent unnaturally. Sozia then exclaims, "“The old lord is dead... And the new lord has come.”

The exact meaning or implications of Donskoy's seeming demise are not explained within TSWE. Donskoy's land is not mentioned as dispersing. Sozia's quote above is probably a reference to the saying "The king is dead, long live the king!", a saying exclaimed when a reigning monarch has died and a new one has ascended to the throne. This may suggest that somehow a new darklord has replaced Donskoy.

Domain and Curse

Donskoy's domain (also referred to as Donskoy's land is an unnamed island of terror surrounded by the Mists. Never given a proper name, it is mostly undetailed, though it contains both forest and marshes. Anything or anyone within the domain (or at least, anything owned by or anybody aligned with) is set upon by a certain decay or degeneration that does not necessarily destroy or kill the subjects in question. This is the result of Donskoy's curse, to degenerate and rot and to see the things he care about decay and rot despite his best efforts to become "fresh" by finding a bride who is pure and young. According to Zosia, Donskoy wished to alleviate himself of rot and [corruption]] by "immersing himself in [Marguerite's] purity he can plunge into the holy waters of heaven itself and make himself clean again... and be born anew." Among the possible consequences of his rotting on the inside is his inability to conceive children.