Sand

Sand is a non-player character and a companion in Neverwinter Nights 2.

""Short and physically unassuming, Sand has a wry smile and a habit of chuckling to himself while making eye contact. Sand is extremely knowledgeable and he’s often visibly lost in though or debating with himself under his breath. His sense of smell is quite powerful and he often pauses to sniff deeply.""

Background
It was Sand who first performed the scrying several years ago when Daegun and Duncan brought the shards to Neverwinter right after the battle with the King of Shadows. When the player arrives at the Sunken Flagon, Sand arrives just in time to fend off the barrage of verbal insults from Duncan. Duncan and Sand share some sort of friendship, although not entirely warm. Sand advises the player to look for the sage Aldalon if he/she wishes to learn more of the shards. Sand owns an alchemical shop in the Docks District of Neverwinter. When the PC first brings Qara into his shop, he immediately shows animosity towards her for he recognizes Qara as being the Magic Academy's headmaster's daughter.

When the player is accused of crime he/she didn't commit, Sand is revealed to be an agent of Sir Nevalle and tasked with aiding the player in collecting evidence in order to prove his/her innocence. He is rather unscrupulous when it comes to gathering as many clues and witnesses, and his methods often upset Shandra. During the trial, he serves as the player's attorney while Torio Claven served as the prosecutor. During the trial, Torio reveals that Sand was once a Hedge Wizard among the ranks of the Hosttower of the Arcane in Luskan. In order to further his studies and have access to many the artifacts in the Hosttower’s possession, he went into their employ but eventually left because the things they asked him to do made even the greatest artifacts pale in compaison. He was marked for death and came to Neverwinter to seek protection. One of the conditions for protection was that he served as eyes and ears for Nasher Alagondar and Nevalle. He first had a shop in the Merchants District but opted to moved to the Docks to avoid unwanted attention. After the trial, Sand decides to join the player in his/her quest, and often locked horns with Qara.

Sand's fate depends on the player's influence with him and Qara. If the player has higher influence with Qara, Sand joins Black Garius, stating that Qara is a bigger threat than the King of Shadows if she continues to use her powers irresponsibly. If the player has higher influence with Sand, Garius attempts to sway Sand with promises of knowledge but to no avail. Sand goes missing along with the player after the defeat of the King of Shadows.

Deleted Content

 * A deleted scene indicated that Qara was much more powerful that anyone had suspected. The scene was supposed to take place before the fall of Highcliff and showed Qara sitting alone by a campfire surrounded by barrels, until Sand suddenly approaches her. Sand confronts her about her lack of restraint and control as usual and thus provokes Qara into showing her true power. Her voice changes and the barrels around her suddenly burst into flames. Sand, who obviously has no idea that Qara was already holding back most of her power all this time, is shocked and frightened and decides to leave Qara alone without further provoking her. But unknown to Qara, Bishop is lurking in the shadows and witnesses everything. Sand then approaches Bishop and says, "she's dangerous. She needs to be stopped." This might be foreshadowing that Qara might actually be a bigger threat than the King of Shadows if left unchecked, which Sand states if he sides with Black Garius.


 * A conversation that was removed from the final release of the game indicated that Qara's father had Sand removed from his teaching position at the Academy, thus explaining his animosity towards her.


 * Another conversation removed from the game shows that it was Sand who discovered a way to defeat the Qara Animus Elemental conjured by Sydney Natale. There were two ways to defeat it: either Qara learned to control her powers and show a little restraint to cut the Animus from its power source, or that she let loose and try to overload the Animus.

Trivia

 * Sand's familiar is a cat named Jaral.


 * During the Rite of Tyr, if the player has higher influence with Sand than Qara, Sand will visit the player and give him potions to aid him in the Trial by Combat.