RuneWeb - The Hand in the Sand Quest

The Hand in the Sand Quest

By: Twilight Ray

Start Point: Speak to Bert in Yanille, West of the Grocery store.
Quests Required: None
Items Required: 32 GP, 2 Vials, Red berries, White berries, Bullseye lens, 5 Earth runes, Bucket of Sand.
Skills Required: 17 Thieving, 49 Crafting

Start the quest by speaking to Bert in Yanille.

He'll tell you that he's worried that he'll lose his job, because he found a hand buried in the Sand pit! He asks you to help him out, since the local authorities are practically useless. If you agree, he'll give you the hand as evidence.

Now, go South and talk to the Bartender. Buy some cheap beer for 2gp, then talk to the Guard Captain. You tell him about the hand, and hand it to him so he can try to identify it. He accidentally drops it in his beer, and hands it back, with advice to go talk to the Wizards about it.

Go to the Magic Guild and ring the bell outside to get Zavistic Rarve to come outside. Ask him about a "rather sandy problem you'd like to palm off on him," and show him the hand.

You ask if there are any wizards missing, and he seems shocked that anyone would want to kill a wizard. You show him the hand, and he realized that it was the hand of Clarence, his most able student. He then asks you to find out who killed him. He tells you to go back and ask Bert about the long hours he had been working.

Head back to Bert, and ask him what he does. He tells you some General things about his work, and then gives you his Rota, or work schedule. He also tells you to head to Brimhaven to talk to his employer. Teleport or walk to Ardougne, and catch the boat to Brimhaven.

Once you reach Brimhaven, head to the house north of the pub/bar.

He pretty much blows you off, so you decide to look around his office. Pickpocket him to get some sand, and search his desk to get his Rota. When you look at Bert's rota, and look at Sandy's rota, you realize that Bert has been working an extra 7 hours each day, 3 extra in the morning and 4 extra at night. Head back to Yanille.

When you arrive in Yanille, go talk to Bert, and tell him that his Rota changed a week ago. He tells you it was the Wizards who did it, and he gives you A magic scroll. Head back to the Magic Guild and speak with Zarvistic again.

Show him the scroll, and he recognizes it as a mind-altering scroll. He asks you if you think Sandy has anything to do with it, and you agree. He tells you to go to Betty in Port Sarim for a truth serum, and he gives you a scrying orb.

You get the feeling he can help out more however, so talk to him again. He asks for a vial, so give him one. He then teleports you straight to Port Sarim. Speak to Betty about the serum, and she'll give you some bottled water, and the instructions to make Pink Dye. To do this, put Red and White berries into the bottle, then use a Bullseye lens on the bottle to receive a Rose tinted lens.

Head back to Betty in Port Sarim, and she tells you to stand in the doorway and use the lens on the vial she'll put on the table. You do so, and she gives you the Truth serum. You need one more thing though, something of the person's. You should've pickpocketed some sand from Sandy earlier, if so, give it to her and get the final Truth serum, with some advice to dilute it in Tea or Coffee. Now, go back to Brimhaven.

Go into Sandy's house, and distract him by telling him one of the diversions (it varies from player to player), then use the Truth serum on Sandy's Coffee Mug. Click on the Orb to Activate it, then talk to Sandy.

If you ask him questions, you find out that he bribed a Wizard to cast a spell on Bert so he wouldn't realize he was working extra without being paid, and then killed the Wizard so he wouldn't have to pay him.

Once you go through all the conversation, go back to Yanille and talk to Zavistic again. You give him the Orb and he watches it, then asks for 5 Earth Runes and a Bucket of Sand. Give them to him, and you watch a cutscene of Zavistic casting a spell on the sandpit. He then tells you that the pit will now magically refill itself, so Bert won't have to work as hard. He also asks you to check other sandpits for the rest of Clarence's body, and asks you to go to the Entrana sandpit.

Once you get there, talk to Mazion.

He gives you a Wizard's head. Head back to Yanille and give it to Zavistic. When you do this, quest complete.

Rewards: 1 QP, 1k Thieving exp, 9k Crafting exp, and a "Secret Reward" from Bert. Secret reward is 84 buckets of sand a day, directly into your bank.