The Hand in the Sand
Guides
Template:Infobox Quest The Hand in the Sand is an intermediate quest revolving around the mysterious discovery of a severed hand in Bert's sand pit in Yanille. The quest is notable for having lots of puns and jokes in its dialogue.
Details
| Start point | Talk to Bert in Yanille, near the sand pit. |
|---|---|
| Official difficulty | 2 |
| Description | Bert the Sandman in Yanille is in a spot of bother. A mysterious severed hand has appeared in his sand box. Help find out whose hand it is and, more to the point, how it got in Bert's sand box. |
| Official length | Short |
| Requirements | * 17 Thieving (not boostable)
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| Items required | *Beer (can be obtained during quest)
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| Recommended | * 1 extra vial to pay for fast travel to Port Sarim
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Walkthrough
Sandy hand
Start the quest by talking to Bert in Yanille in the building just east of the POH portal. He works in the sandpit but has found a severed hand and is afraid to tell the authorities for fear of losing his job. Agree to lend him a hand and you will receive a sandy hand. He'll tell you to go talk to the captain of the guards. He hangs around the inn in Yanille, usually drunk.
Take the hand to the captain of the guards in the Ye Olde Dragon Inn; he'll demand a beer. Give him a pint; a cheap beer can be bought from the bartender for two coins. He will ramble on, and then, he'll take a look at the hand and accidentally drop it in his beer, turning it into a beer soaked hand. He suggests it was probably the wizards who did it and suggest you ring the bell of their guild and talk to 'the first pointy hatted ninny you shee.'
Go to the Wizards' Guild, east of the bar; enter if you meet the requirements (66 Magic), or ring the bell to make Zavistic Rarve come out. Talk to him to wave the hand in front of his face and enquire whether the guild still has all of its wizards. You explain the situation and hand him the hand. He will tell you that this is the hand of one of his wizard students, Clarence. He'll ask you to see if Bert's working schedule has changed recently, for he has been working rather long hours recently.
Sandy the slavedriver
Template:Map Return to Bert's home and talk to him again. He'll tell you that he works for Sandy's Sand Corp, which is based in Brimhaven, by hauling sand from there to the pit in Yanille. He'll give you a copy of his schedule and tell you that it hasn't changed recently, or so he thinks. Now, you need to head to Sandy in Brimhaven to compare Bert's rota with the original. You can go to Ardougne and pay 30 coins to get to Brimhaven. Sandy is located in the office just north-west of the Dead Man's Chest bar.
In Brimhaven, you'll see Sandy in his office. You can talk to him first if you want, but this isn't necessary. Search his desk in the house to get Bert's old schedule. Read it and compare it to the other schedule to see that Bert has indeed been working longer hours. While you're here, pickpocket Sandy to find some sand in his pocket — this may take multiple attempts. Keep it; it will become important later on in the quest.
Truth serum
Now, you need to visit Bert once more. Talk to Bert in Yanille to inform him of his changed hours. He will not remember it and blame it on the wizards and the magic leaking from their nearby guild. You give him the rotas in exchange for a magic scroll that appeared in his house recently. He instructs you to see whether 'those infernal wizards' are up to anything.
Take the scroll to Zavistic Rarve at the Wizards' Guild to learn that it's a mind-altering scroll, explaining why Bert doesn't remember his hours' changing. You suspect Sandy is behind it and Zavistic asks you to first get Betty in Port Sarim to make you a truth serum and then record Sandy using the magical orb he gives you. If you ask him to help you more, he will teleport you to Betty's shop just once in exchange for an empty vial.
Betty can be found in a small shop marked by the File:Magic shop icon.png icon on the minimap. Talk to Betty about the quest and she will ask for another empty vial. In return, she gives you some bottled water. You need to add redberries to make redberry juice, then add white berries to make pink dye. Once you've made some, use it on a bullseye lantern lens to create a rose tinted lens.
Talk to Betty again. She tells you to stand in the doorway while the door is open and shine your lens at the counter to focus the light on an empty vial whilst she pours the truth serum into it. Do so by clicking on the lens in your inventory, then using it on the counter. This will heat up and shatter the lens. Speak to Betty again; you now need a personal item from Sandy for the potion to work.
Return to Sandy's office and pickpocket him to get some loose sand if you had not already. Return to Betty for her to finish the serum with the handful of sand. She warns you that you should dilute the serum in tea or coffee or else 'bits' might drop off the drinker.
Make sure to buy five earth runes from Betty before you leave if you don't have them already.
Sandy Truth-Be-Told
Back in Brimhaven, return to Sandy. He has a mug of steaming coffee next to him, but will require distraction for you to be able to add the truth serum. Get him distracted with tall tales of herds of giant mutant herrings and pygmy shrews. Try all the options, as there is no guaranteed one that will work. Once he looks out the window, use the serum on his coffee. He will drink it. Next, activate your magical orb and talk to him.
He'll confess that he bribed a wizard to put a mind-altering spell on Bert. He then changed Bert's schedule so that he'd work longer for the same salary. Afterwards, Sandy killed the wizard so that he wouldn't have to pay him; then, he buried parts of him in all of the sandboxes around Gielinor. This fills the magical orb; return to Zavistic in Yanille to show him the evidence.
And Sandy said, "Drat- foiled again!"
Hand Zavistic Rarve the magical orb in your inventory - it is proof of Sandy's confession. He asks for five earth runes and a bucket of sand, refusing to tell you why. Bring these to him. A bucket can be filled at Bert's sandpit if necessary. He will then cast a spell on Bert's sandpit to magically refill itself to compensate Bert for his troubles. He will no longer have to work! Zavistic says he has sent wizards around the various sandpits of RuneScape to find the remains of Clarence and asks you to check on the Entranan one.
Go to Entrana (there is a bank deposit box at Port Sarim to deposit all armour and weapons before going to the holy island). Talk to Mazion by the sandpit to get the dead wizard's head. Give this to Zavistic Rarve. He'll confirm that it belongs to Clarence and that the wizard will be buried the same day. He has also sent word for Sandy to be arrested and gives you a reward for your help.
Congratulations, quest complete!
Tip: Speak to Bert right after completing the quest to complete a medium Ardougne Diary task.
Rewards
Required for completing
Completion of The Hand in the Sand is required for the following:
Trivia
- After handing Zavistic Rarve the wizard's head he will say "Alas poor Clarence. I knew him, [Player]." which is a reference to the often misquoted line in Shakespeare's Hamlet which says "Alas poor Yorick! I knew him, Horatio."
