Donner Rus

Donner Rus was a potion-master and master poisoner from Dominaria.

Rus was known throughout 5 kingdoms as a poisoner without peer, and he valued that reputation above all else. 3 of the 5 monarchs he worked for kept him under their watch as a permanent retainer to prevent him poisoning them, and he was very fond of being paid not to do his work. Donner was not a very pleasant person. Tania Cayce, his own apprentice, sometimes feared that he might slip her something, especially if she said something that might insult him. He also had a habit of sending her into very dangerous situations to get certain ingredients.

Rus was approached by Vaan, who wanted him to help kill the dragon that had enslaved Vaan and his people. After Vaan insulted Rus by suggesting he was too old to accept such a job, Rus went along, pretending to accept the challenge. In reality, he thought that those who went after a dragon where doomed to fail. When they had nearly reached the dragon's lair, he put the members of the group, except for him and his apprentice, in a deep sleep with certain herbs. He then sent Tania into the lair, planning on getting out of the region as fast as possible after she had gathered some rare ingredients, such as dragon scales, claws, and teeth from the lair.

This endeavor quickly went very wrong for Rus. Not only was the dragon awake, but it turned out to be a Mak Fawa, and thus none of the spells and poisons he had prepared worked. Tania was saved by Vaan and came away with only a few broken bones, but Rus himself was incinerated.