“Enchantment?”
Sandal is a dwarven rune savant and the adopted son of Bodahn, a surface dwarf merchant.
Background
Sandal and his adoptive father are surfacers, having left Orzammar for the surface to become merchants. Bodahn found Sandal abandoned during one of his many expeditions into the Deep Roads and has since adopted him, caring for him as if a biological son.
According to Bodahn, Sandal may be lyrium-addled due to his exposure to lyrium in the Deep Roads.
Bodahn claims the Circle of Magi declared Sandal a savant and may have desired to keep Sandal for study or in order to enchant for them.[1] Sandal is unable to care for himself and has a limited mental capacity for common tasks (such as conversation, where he usually replies with one word answers), while excelling at enchanting and, to a lesser degree, runecrafting.
Sandal can enchant weapons (and, in the DLC campaign Witch Hunt, armor) when provided runes.
Involvement
Dragon Age: Origins
Sandal is rescued from darkspawn along with his father as The Warden is leaving Lothering. If they are allowed to join, he'll offer his services along with his father.
Sandal is with his father at Redcliffe Castle before the The Battle of Denerim for last minute enchantments until the Warden gets to Fort Drakon.
Sandal will be met again during the climax in Denerim at Fort Drakon, surrounded by dead darkspawn and covered in blood. When asked what happened, he will just say, "Enchantment?". While his father is not with him, he does have his father's goods in stock, available for purchase.
Witch Hunt
Dragon Age II
Bodahn and Sandal later travel to Kirkwall working once more as vendor and enchanter. They accompany Hawke and their companions on Bartrand Tethras's Deep Roads expedition, providing supplies for the party.
Hawke first meets Sandal outside the Dwarven Merchants' Guild in Hightown. Later, during the Deep Roads expedition, Bodahn asks Hawke to find Sandal, who has wandered off. He is found unharmed, and surrounded by dead darkspawn, much like what happened at Fort Drakon. When questioned, he hands Hawke a Rune of Frost and states "Boom." Upon further inspection of the area, there is also a frozen ogre in mid-charge and when inquired about this, Sandal simply says "Not enchantment."
After the Deep Roads expedition he sets up in the Amell Estate along with Bodahn. He can craft any rune, including Sandal's Special Rune. Sandal also occasionally takes on cooking duties for the estate, his specialty being "Enchantment Soup".
Bodahn will mention that they left the mage tower where Sandal had been researching, because he didn't like their "greedy eyes." Afraid that the circle may have wanted to keep him forever, he left beforehand.
In Act 3, Bodahn informs Hawke that his son was offered a position in Orlais by Empress Celene herself and that they will leave when proper arrangements are made.
Sandal last appears in the Gallows with Hawke's storage chest, as well as selling all of Bodahn's wares and enchantments near several slain Mages, Templars and Demons; including a Pride Demon in a similar fashion to what happened during The Battle of Denerim at Fort Drakon.
Inventory
Witch Hunt
Dragon Age II
- Main article: Sandal's Store
Sandal can be encountered during The Last Straw selling provisions at The Gallows.
Quotes
Dragon Age II
- "I saw something nasty in the woodshed." (Reference to "Cold Comfort Farm" novel and film.)
- (About Orana) "She smells like cinnamon buns."
Dialogue
- Sandal: Can I have some Salamanders, please?
- Bodahn: Don't do it, that's where the boom comes from, I think.
- Sandal: One day the magic will come back. All of it. Everyone will be just like they were. The shadows will part, and the skies will open wide.
- Bodahn: Huh. What's this?
- Sandal: When he rises, everyone will see.
- Bodahn: By the ancestors, what's gotten into you, my boy?
- Sandal: Enchantment?
- Bodahn: Hmph. That's more like it.
Trivia
- During the Deep Roads expedition in Dragon Age II, Sandal will be found surrounded by darkspawn corpses. According to him, he blew them up with an enchantment, simply saying "Boom", although the frozen ogre next to him was "Not enchantment!" During the final mission of the game, he is surrounded by the corpses of abominations and demons, an homage to his appearance in Fort Drakon at the culmination of Dragon Age: Origins.
- When talked to in Hawke's Estate, Sandal will sometimes mention a scary old lady telling him bad things in his head.
- When examining the upstairs banister in your Hightown Mansion in Dragon Age II, Hawke notices handprints on the chandelier. Hawke suggests Sandal has been swinging from it. Alternatively, if Merrill lives in the estate, Hawke will say that she has been swinging on it. The same happens when examining the bed (Sandal or Merrill jumping on the bed).
- When Hawke speaks with their mabari after acquiring the estate, Sandal will be in a "conversation" with it where they bark back and forth. Bodahn says they're having a good conversation. This is similar to dialogue between Sten and the Warden's dog in Dragon Age: Origins, although much less aggressive.
- There appears to be a slight continuity error with Sandal in the timeline. Sandal is seen in Kirkwall a year after the Battle of Denerim with his father Bodahn on the Deep Roads Expedition. He stays in Kirkwall for the next three years, yet he is seen in Witch Hunt, which happens two and a half years after the Blight. However, it is possible that Bodahn and Sandal moved back and forth from Kirkwall to Ferelden over the course of three years due to the trade purposes of their traveling business.
- When spoken to in Hawke's Estate, Sandal will sometimes say "That big tower in the lake is scary," to which Bodahn replies with "He means the Gallows and I quite agree."
- Bodahn will mention to Hawke during The Deep Roads Expedition that Sandal has burned down their house twice by accident using enchantments.
Gallery
References
- ↑ As mentioned by Bodahn in Dragon Age II.