“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, dwarves who have left Orzammar for the surface to have dealings with humans and other species. 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 the exposure to lyrium in the Deep Roads.
Bodahn claims the Circle of Magi declared Sandal a savant. As such, 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 when 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?", and then proceed to open the enchantment screen. 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 make an appearance in Dragon Age II, playing the same role in Dragon Age: Origins as a vendor and enchanter. They accompany Hawke and their companions on Bartrand Tethras's Deep Roads expedition, providing supplies for the party.
The first chance to meet Sandal is at the Dwarven Merchant's Guild in Hightown. Later, during the deep roads expedition, there is a side-quest in which Bodahn asks Hawke to find Sandal, who was wandered off into the deep roads. He is found unharmed, and surrounded by dead darkspawn much like what happened at Fort Drakon. when questioned, he hands Hawke a rune 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 shop in the Amell Estate along with Bodahn. He can craft any rune, including Sandal's Special Rune.
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.
He last appears in the Gallows with Hawke's storage chest, as well as selling all of Bodahn's wares and enchantments after "slaying" several Mages, Templars, Demons and even a giant Pride Demon in a similar fashion to what happened at the end of Origins at Fort Drakon. In the mage campaign of The Last Straw he appears only once, but in the templar campaign he will also appear shortly after your fight with Orsino.
Dialogue between Carta members in the Legacy DLC implies that Sandal is the bastard son of an Aeducan, whose mother was either an elf or a human.
Inventory
Witch Hunt
Quotes
Dragon Age II
- "Boom."
- "I saw something nasty in the woodshed." (Reference to "Cold Comfort Farm" novel and film.)
- (About Orana) "She smells like cinnamon buns."
- "The old lady is scary!"
- Sandal: Can I have some Salamanders, please?
- Bodahn: Don't do it, that's where the boom comes from, I think.
- Sandal: I want to go home.
- Bodahn: We can go back to Ferelden one day, my boy, I promise.
- 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 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, mirroring the same instance from the first game before the Warden fights the Archdemon.
- 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 talked 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'.
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