Doreah was a bedslave in one of the "pleasure houses" of the Free City of Lys. She was later bought by Illyrio Mopatis and moved to his mansion in the city of Pentos. Doreah was sold to the pleasure house by her mother when she was nine years old. She didn't touch a man until three years after that, however, and in the intervening years was instructed in the art of seduction. She spent fifteen years there before being bought by Viserys Targaryen, making her approximately twenty-four years old during the first season.