I was rummaging through old DAO oneshots and found this.

Though it is late to comment but that's why I always end up paying Goldannna 15 sovereign or more. A poor woman living with four children in a dilapidated house and in an exploitative medieval world won't be all rainbows and unicorn on first meeting, when your supposed birth snatched her mother and her life from her.

That quest requires more depth and Bioware should have given a second visit option to her.

Aww, poor Goldanna. Is it weird that I actually like her character? Maybe that's because I'm not an Alistair fangirl, nor will I ever be, but I think there's so much more to her than just "a nasty bitch". But anyway, a lovely story - I hope that guard was eaten by the darkspawn.

What a delightful fresh take on Goldana. I loved this. Thank you so much!

You know, you mentioned backstory and perspective in connection with this piece, so I was expecting most of what I saw here. The twist in her mind after they walked out the door was beautifully done.

It's also worth noting, because this is something that gets glossed over in a lot of fan fiction, that you captured one of the very true elements of the medieval sort of society Thedas represents. Namely, how Goldanna actually came to be in possession of that sovereign. Absolutely sickening, but the accuracy contained within it paints, I think, a much truer picture of how that would have gone.

Not least because I just can't see Eamon or anyone in his household taking pity on the poor child of the woman who just birthed a political nightmare. I've often wondered if the idea of the castle giving Goldanna a sovereign wasn't put in deliberately to mislead us into seeing decency that Eamon just doesn't have.

Of course, I can't stand Eamon, regardless of how he's introduced, because scheming political snakes always irritate me. Could just be me. ;)

My God, but this was amazing.

Once again, a lovely look at the most unexpected side of the most unexpected people. Just about everyone in Dragon Age has a backstory, and a reason for their behavior. If Goldanna was a shrew to Alistair, there's likely a reason for it, and you've delineated the reasons in simple, heartbreaking clarity.

You know, I hated her at first too, but the more I listened to what she said, and the more I played through...the more sympathy I had for her. Regardless of what we all think about what really happened...Goldanna got the short end of the stick on this, of course she's bitter. This is very nicely done. I love stories that explore the motivations behind the scenes.

This was really wonderful. It's nice to see a sympathetic portrayal of Goldanna and you did a great job capturing her back story and why should would have reacted like she did when Alistair came looking for her. It's very easy, like so many of the characters in DA, to paint them as one-dimensional stereotypes, so I really enjoyed how you fleshed her out and made her human.

Wow. Ygrain33 mentioned this in her new fic, so, because I'm nosy, I had to check it out. Wow.

For the first time, I feel for Goldanna. You are brilliant!

On another note, apparently mutive would like to see you do a fic on 'The Talk' Loghain needs to give Anora. O.O O.O I hope so! _

Most excellently done!

This was a deeply moving piece. It doesn't eradicate my desire to throttle Goldanna the second I see her, but it paints a very different picture than that I'm working on, with a plausible perspective tha I admire.

This was very good. I'm not a fan of Goldanna, but I can certainly empathize what she has been through. Life wasn't very kind to her at all, and your story filled in some of the gaps nicely.

I love reading stories that dramatically change my views of characters. I was rather ambivalent towards Goldanna, neither hating nor liking her, and never really thought of her in anything more than a superficial manner... But you breathed so much life into her and her interaction with Alistair; from her thoughts to her reactions, she was truly believable and human.

Excellently done! I look forward to seeing her again in my next play through with my new perspective (harhar)!

I've never understood the Goldanna hate either. The Warden comes in wearing a fortune in arms and armour; the poor woman's resentment at the awkward situation is completely understandable.

This was exactly what I wanted from the game. Thank you.

Wow, I will never look at Goldanna the same again. I have never even tried to put myself in her shoes and now I can't imagine why I wasn't able to see all this. And as always, your imagery is evocative and enhances the emotions that accompany it.

Beautiful and poignant and deeply moving.

Beautifully done. There are so many lovely details here, the crash of silverware, the sharpening of her business sense and her tongue. Staring at the chip in the wall.

I fully agree with you, it is rather unreasonable to expect her to just jump into Alistair's arms. Although my personal belief is that the babe actually did die, and Alistair was misled, but that my dear is another story :)

BioWare is good at giving hints at the complexity underlying even relatively minor characters, but it usually takes modders or fanfic writers to really explore it.

Nicely done.