how did Nanna feel when other kids/mages in the Circle talked about their families?
When she was little, it was with frustration and envy, almost to the point of tears. Communicating was hard enough at first, and considering the circumstances that brought her to the Tower in the first place, she had absolutely been scolded for asking after her own. So if other kids were going to talk about their families on the outside—or worse, in the case of a noble child, be visited by their parents—she'd be the smallest ball of a bad mood.
As she got older, she trained herself to look like she was listening, but simply not react much at all. She wouldn't discourage another apprentice or Mage if they started on their own unless they were in hearing range of someone who'd get them in trouble, but offered neither comfort nor direct interest in the subject. They were mages, so what's outside shouldn't matter anymore, she would tell herself, whether the circumstance was good or bad, and that would be her overall stance if someone asked her. Her family was the Circle, and that was all she needed to know.
All of that was a ruse, of course—aside from that being the 'correct' answer to give, all that was is her masking the fact that talking about other peoples' families made her sad because with every year that passed, she remembered less and less of her own till there wasn't anything left at all. A process that didn't take long, considering she was only five or so when she was brought to Ferelden, and not fluent in the Common Tongue.
The result of that being, now that she's older, when the subject comes up it's not something she considers at all. She can be a listening ear, a problem solver, and an empathetic shoulder, but she doesn't think of her own connections much at all.
