Dona

A character first introduced in the article "A Darkness Falls" in Quoth the Raven Issue 32. Dona is a human woman who falls in with Janie Augustus and becomes her lover.

Youth

Dona recounts that she was the only child of a plumber and an exotic dancer. The little family unit kept on the move through the Divided States because her mother's profession kept attracting unwelcome attention. Their luck fully ran out when they encountered a "rolling gang" (motorized bandits) in service to the Church of the Almighty Dollar, who were intent on taking slaves as well as money. Dona's father tried to fight, only to be dragged along behind one of the gang's vehicles unto death. Dona and her mother were both raped, then sold off separately as slaves in the next city the gang came to.

Enslavement

Having been sold into Bank-sponsored slavery, Dona gave birth to a son while in captivity. The baby was taken from her, and she was made to swear obedience in return for a promise that she would one day be reunited with her child. She was subsequently dosed with a poison that functions much like Borrowed Time, requiring regular doses to prevent it from killing her. She was also tattooed with the unholy symbol of the Banks, marking her as a slave.

By the time she first encountered the (Dark) One, Dona had not seen her son and had been forced to work in various brothels for ten years. She mentioned having suffered particularly at the hands of a customer nicknamed "Drunk Andy", who was known for strangling prostitutes - to death if he was drunk enough. Drunk Andy's victims were casually disposed of, as he had enough money to pay for his indiscretions.

By this time, Dona claims she would have happily joined the Devil himself, had he offered to take her away from the brothel. Rather than the Devil, she managed to persuade a customer who called herself Janie Augustus to take her away. Dona took considerable satisfaction in watching Janie knock down the brothel madam when the latter tried to object. When Janie later revealed her suspicion that she might have permanently crippled or killed the madam, Dona took this in stride as the woman had been cruel to her charges.

A Darkness Falls

Against what might be expected, Dona and Janie developed a mutually supportive, even loving relationship, with Dona noting more than once that the Darklord had - by her perception - been nothing but kind to her. She professed admiration of her lover's power and authority, not to mention her ability to just do and take whatever she wanted. Although she encouraged Janie to watch her behaviour around young children, she otherwise did not try to place any real limits on her lover, nor did she act any differently around Janie after hearing of the Darklord's sins.

In the end, Janie's actions led to Dona's death as the Darkord had made an enemy of Griffin, ironically in an act that was intended to make Dona happy (as well as show off to her). The Lotus Society member shot both Dona and Janie, killing Dona before she could learn that the Dark One was planning to find her son, wreak vengeance on anyone who had hurt her, and even make her immortal.

Appearance

In life, Dona was described by both Janie Augustus and the Other as not being conventionally beautiful, but interesting. She had the trim figure of a professional dancer. Janie mentioned Dona was 'snake-faced', due in part to her nose having been broken and not properly set at some point, her eyes those of a wild thing forced into captivity.

After Dona's death, her body became the Dark One's next vessel, with the process of regeneration erasing all the little imperfections of her appearance, her eyes becoming the Dark One's signature luminous grey. Janie mentions that after having known and seen Dona, her vessel's new appearance strikes her as repulsive in its mediocrity.

Powers and Abilities

Dona was considered to be a fine dancer and a good cook. She claimed to be able to sew, and appeared to be an energetic lover. Although she was capable of dealing a good slap if provoked, she was not combat-trained. She seemed interested in the Divided States' magick, but was likewise untrained in this area.