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Shale is one of the war golems created by Paragon Caridin to defend the dwarven thaigs against the darkspawn assault that began during the First Blight. As such, it has been a golem for almost 1000 years. However, Shale seems able to remember only the events of approximately the last 30 years, and its knowledge of what it did prior to that is mainly based on what it has heard from others.

“We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party.” — Morrigan
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins. Click here to reveal them.

According to Caridin, Shale was once a female dwarf named Shayle, a warrior of House Cadash and the only female dwarf to volunteer to become a golem. As a golem, Shale was very loyal to Caridin, even standing with him as he objected to King Valtor’s tyrannical use of the Anvil of the Void. But, after Caridin was turned into a golem, he sent her away, “out of mercy.” Sometime after leaving Caridin, Shale became deactivated in one of the lost thaigs.

Eventually, in the latter part of the Blessed Age, a deactivated Shale and its control rod were found by Wilhelm, a mage who was exploring various abandoned thaigs in the Deep Roads. Wilhelm reactivated the golem and, for many years, used it to his own ends: Shale became an object of study, a trophy, and, during the Orlesian occupation of Ferelden, a weapon for both Moira’s and later Maric’s rebel forces.

After the war, Wilhelm settled in the village of Honnleath, taking Shale with him and continuing his study of the golem. While under Wilhelm’s control, Shale was experimented on, paraded around the village like a pet, and even chiseled down to a smaller size so that it might more easily fit through the doorways in Wilhelm’s home.

Wilhelm was eventually found dead outside his tower, with a deactivated Shale standing frozen over his body. Though there were no witnesses to the event, Shale was believed to have killed him. In response to the mage’s seeming death at the golem’s hands, Shale’s control rod was sold to a merchant by Wilhelm’s wife, in the hopes that Shale would never be activated again.

But, though it was deactivated, the golem was still aware of its surroundings. Shale remained that way for decades, awake but unable to move.

Involvement Edit

The Stolen Throne Edit

“I fall off horses. It's this thing I do.” — Maric
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne. Click here to reveal them.

Shale is seen under the control of Wilhelm when Maric and Loghain meet the main rebel camp. Shale is also encountered when the party return to Gwaren.

Dragon Age: Origins Edit

“We now have a dog and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party.” — Morrigan
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Origins. Click here to reveal them.

After The Warden encounters a merchant called Felix de Grosbois at Sulcher's Pass, they obtain the control rod to a Golem located in the village of Honnleath. After rescuing several trapped villagers including Matthias, Wilhelm's son, The Warden re-activated Shale and convinced it to join in their fight against the Blight.

During the mission to rescue the Paragon Branka, the Warden will encounter Caridin. If Shale is present at the time, Caridin will reveal much of Shale's past and trigger the quest A Golem's Memories. If the Warden sides with Branka they will be forced to kill Shale as well. Alternatively if they side with Branka and Shale is not present, a conversation in camp will trigger where the Warden can simply say they do not know what happens to Caridin and then the next time Shale is brought into the Deep Roads the quest will activate.

Shale will remember it was found in Cadash Thaig where the party will discover a registry of Dwarves who volunteered to become Golems in order to fight the Darkspawn. The list includes Shale's original identity, Shayle, a female warrior of House Cadash.

Dragon Age: Asunder Edit

“I spent my time cleaning. Like a servant.” — Shale
This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: Asunder. Click here to reveal them.

Shale appears accompanying Wynne to an abandoned Grey Warden outpost in Orlais where Pharamond, a Tranquil researcher and personal friend of Wynne's, is investigating the nature of the Rite of Tranquility. According to Wynne, Pharamond’s research might give insight into how to return Shale to its original female dwarven form. When Shale and Wynne arrive at the outpost, they find it overrun by demon-possessed corpses. As Wynne leaves to find help in Val Royeaux, Shale stays behind to ensure nothing escapes the outpost. After confronting the abomination, Shale stands watch while the others enter The Fade. After rescuing Pharamond, Shale goes to the Circle of Magi in Montsimmard so the information about the Rite of Tranquility could be disseminated among the circles quickly. Later Shale joins Evangeline and Wynne in their raid on the White Spire and destroys the Phylacteries stored there. Shale is also present at Wynne's funeral.

Gifts Edit

Shale has a preference for "remarkable" gemstones. There is an issue with the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions which causes Shale to not give the standard +10 for the first gem; instead you receive +5, which decreases as usual, so that after receiving four of the gems, Shale seems uninterested in the others ("So I'm to keep this then, am I? Fine."), giving only +1 for the rest, giving a measly 18 approval for giving them all to Shale. Therefore, you have to rely on conversation and your actions to get higher approval.

If you have the Feastday Gifts and Pranks DLC, however, you might also compensate for this bug with the thoughtful gifts and sugar cakes available from Bodahn Feddic. No matter how many are given, a Thoughtful Gift is always worth (+10) , while a Sugar Cake is worth (+5) .

Name	Notes	Description

Remarkable Amethyst	Located: Dust Town	A deep, clear purple stone.
Remarkable Diamond	Located: Orzammar (console only)	A brilliant cut, colorless stone.
Remarkable Emerald	Located: Figor's Store	This dark green gem has murky depths, like an overgrown pond.
Remarkable Garnet	Unobtainable via normal means	A gem the shade of dried blood, dark red, nearly black.
Remarkable Greenstone	Located: Village of Honnleath	Blue-green stone with a pattern like a turtle's shell.
Remarkable Malachite	Located: Circle Tower	This stone is patterned with odd bands and ripples of color, like the contents of a witch's cauldron.
Remarkable Ruby	Located: Denerim Alienage and Cadash Thaig	Deep red and nearly indestructible, these are prized by royalty.
Remarkable Sapphire	Located: Orzammar Commons	A star-cut sapphire, almost the color of the night sky.
Remarkable Topaz	Located: Frostback Mountains	A brilliant gem the color of sunshine.

Initial statistics Edit

See Companion Strategies for suggestions on how to develop Shale.

See Shale Talents for a list of its talents.

Relative attribute weightings on auto-level: strength 1.4, dexterity 0.25, willpower 0.5, magic 0, cunning 0.145, constitution 1.9

Starting abilities: pc

Warrior: Powerful, Threaten, Precise Striking, Taunt

Shale: Pulverizing Blows, Slam, Quake, Stoneheart, Bellow, Stone Roar, (level 12) Rock Mastery (level 8), Hurl Rock (level 9), Stone Aura (level 10), Inner Reserves (level 11)

Equipment Edit

Shale does not use conventional weapons or armor. Instead, much like Dog, the golem has two slots for specialized equipment:

Small Crystals, which act as weapons and appear on Shale’s wrists; they grant a bonus to the corresponding elemental attack damage, convert all damage to the crystal’s element type, and can (depending on their quality and type) grant bonuses to various attacks, attributes, and health/stamina regeneration.
Large Crystals, which act as armor and appear on Shale’s shoulders and legs; they grant a bonus to the corresponding elemental resistance and can (depending on their quality and type) grant bonuses to various defenses, attributes, and health/stamina regeneration.

There are a total of 50 different crystals: 25 small crystals, 25 large crystals. Both sizes of crystals come in each of the five elemental types and in five varying degrees of quality.

Equipping Shale with a small and large crystal of the same elemental type will grant an additional set bonus of +10% to the corresponding resistance.

Plot skills Edit

As you befriend Shale and gain its approval, it will gain additional skills:

Skill Name	Benefit	Requirement
Inspired: Minor Strength	+1 to Strength	25% approval
Inspired: Moderate Strength	+2 to Strength	50% approval
Inspired: Major Strength	+4 to Strength	75% approval
Inspired: Massive Strength	+6 to Strength	90% approval

Note: These approval bonuses do NOT stack. Instead of 13 extra strength, you get 6.

Quotes Edit

Main article: Shale/Dialogue

(If removed from party) "Pigeon crap."
"The darkspawn are an evil that must be destroyed, it's true. Though not as evil as the birds... damnable feathered fiends!"
"I wonder what it is like to float...or drown."
(Battle cry) "Death to all pigeons!"
(If given one of the Remarkable Gems) "Oooh, Shiny!"
(When heavily injured after battle) "Oh look! I think I got chipped after that last fight!"
"I would appreciate it if it didn't spread around that I said anything. Humans might start to get the wrong idea. They might start thinking their race is not completely hopeless."
"Now, let us crush something soft and watch it fountain blood. That is a girlish thing to want to do, yes?"
(While conversing with Sten about the Qun) "Does sound like a delightful place where it comes from. Mages on leashes. What will they think of next?"

Dialogue Edit

Shale: "I see it found some augmentation crystals. I was not even aware it knew about them... well done! So? What does it think? They don't make me look any wider, do they? I find I am already too wide as it is."
The Warden: "No, no, they're quite slimming"
Shale: "They are, aren't they? I so adore them! I think it should find some more as soon as possible. I want to glitter from ear to ear... so to speak!"

───────

Leliana: "You aren't all stone, Shale. There is a person inside of you."
Shale: "If so, it is because I ate him."

Trivia Edit

Shale, the Golem Control Rod, and Wilhelm's Cottage were originally intended to be found in Redcliffe Village.

Like Dog, Shale uses no weapons. So, when Frost Weapons, Flaming Weapons, or Telekinetic Weapons is enabled, its visual effect is applied to Shale's entire body.

Shale mentions being chiseled down to a smaller size by Wilhelm at the behest of his wife, who complained that the golem couldn't fit through the doors of their home. This refers to difficulties the developers had with getting Shale to fit through many of the game's doorways when they used the original golem graphical model for it. (You can see a full-sized version of Shale during its nightmare in the Fade.)

At Soldier's Peak (after Levi has set up shop), birds will migrate towards Shale and follow it around.

The description of the Renewed Assault talent refers to “Stona Aura,” instead of “Stone Aura.”

To capture the ambiguity of Shale's gender, the voice actress’s already gravelly voice was pitch-shifted down to sound deeper and more masculine.^[1]

The film The Princess Bride is referenced twice in dialogue involving Shale:
- Before the final battle, if Shale is being left behind, its parting statement to the Warden will be “Have fun storming the castle.”
- If Shale is the Warden's champion at the Landsmeet, Loghain says, “I think the odds might be slightly in his favor at a test of strength.”

Shale is referenced twice in Dragon Age II:
- Corff the Bartender indirectly references Shale when he mentions that “the pigeon population has taken a nose dive in Ferelden.”
- During the epilogue, a picture of Shale chasing some chickens appears on one of the flipping pages of Cassandra's book.

If you complete its personal quest, Shale’s codex entry says it became a golem “300 years earlier,” presumably 300 years earlier than the current events in the game. However, if Shale was made by Caridin, this cannot be the case.

Shale's character and attitude towards “fleshy creatures” is similar to the hunter-killer droid HK-47 from an earlier Bioware game, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. HK-47 refers to organics as “meatbags” and also comments on how their organic nature makes them weak.

Shale was to appear in the cut plot "Finding Shale" for Dragon Age II. The plot was replaced with Finding Nathaniel.^[2]

Gallery Edit

References Edit

↑ Rob Bartel, "BioWare Social Network"
↑ Gaider, David Your Random Dragon Age Question?

[0] Rob Bartel, "BioWare Social Network"

[Gaider-1] Gaider, David Your Random Dragon Age Question?

[1]

[2]