find a ring in a pond.

put the quest from dragon age called the quest for the sacred ashes and revamp it to fit oblivion and id be set. that quest was perhaps the greatest i had ever went through.

Quest -

Your character is contacted by the all mighty Cliffracer king named 'Cliff-king-racer' and is informed of his heritage, your character is INDEED HALF CLIFFRACER, your character then must track down the SECRET DRAGON St. Jiub who drove the good and noble cliffracers out of morrowind, who were the last defense against the evil dragons, and kill him. After you kill him the cliffracers all go back to morrowind and you're crowned king-god-emperor-doctor of skyrim, and you the realise that mehrunes dagon is back and he's gonna attack your cliffracer armies in skyrim because he knows they can like beat him and stuff, so you have to go to dwemer ruins and get a machine gun to kill mehrunes dagon.

:gun: bliviongate:

This is my favorite so far. Nice twist at the end. :thumbsup:

The ugly but ambitious and cruel daughter of a local merchant wants to marry the lord of the town. Help her by arranging accidents for the pretty competitors, finding a witch that can .. modify the looks of the future bride or at least put a curse on the lord which let him fall in love with Ms ugly. Help her squeeze out the last bit of money from the peasants so a nice little wedding-chateau can be built ...

Come on give as some evil quests.

A male Breton shopkeeper has fallen in love with his Argonian employee. He expresses his feelings and attempts to initiate a physical expression of his love (after reading The Lusty Argonian Maid). She is horrified and runs off. He's very distraught and needs to make amends.

Before he'll open up shop, you must find his employee, and apologize on his behalf.

No good deed goes unpunished...

I'm a big fan of horror games, but I know that TES becoming horror-centric would undermine its traditions of levelling and growing and being generally badass. However, TES has some great potential for really scary encounters. That's why I propose a horror sidequest!

jack254 posted a really good idea for a Hircine quest earlier in which the player is the hunted and I think that that is the best basis for a horror quest. For suspense to work the player must be powerless: their only options must be run or hide. Amnesia: The Dark Descent pulls this off really well. For it to work in TES, though, you would have to strip the character of all of their hard earned abilities. I think the best way to do this is by unexpectedly transplanting them into a daedric plane.

It is midnight. The player is in a forest teeming with werewolves, and they are being stalked and herded. They know that they have no chance against the werewolves, so they must press on. After several close calls which leave the player on edge (and on the verge of death) they are jumped by all of the werewolves at once. Before the player character can die a flurry of fire arrows devastates the werewolf pack. Upon looking to see where the flurry came from the player sees a well lit wooden two story house, from the balcony of which a man calls down to you.

"Are you mad?" he says. "Alone and poorly equipped under the full moon! Come inside. Come upstairs. We must tend to your wounds before you become one of those things yourself."

The house seems totally out of place here in the forest, but the player is not thinking totally rationally (their character is diseased, wounded, stranded and hunted after all). The door opens easily - another oddity when it is in such a dangerous place - but slams shut behind the player. As the door slams all of the lights on the bottom floor die. The only light comes from staircase, and the player heads towards it eagerly. The man who is the player's saviour stands at the top and beckons for them to come up.

Halfway up the staircase and it collapses under the character's weight. They are now in a scripted sequence in which they slide down a long pit - first person animations of trying to get a handhold on the slick tunnel sides galore - until they reach the end and fall a short distance into a pool of water. Everything is silent and the only illumination comes from a torch bracketed to the wall at the beginning of a tunnel, which recedes to total pitch blackness only a few feet after it. The player swims to the edge of the pool and climbs out. Cue scripted sequence. A splashing sound is heard and the player turns around to see water being kicked up as something makes its way across the pool - but it is invisible. They start to run, but are tripped and dragged back by whatever it is. The player kicks (no quicktime, no button mashing. Just scripts.) and the monster screams. The player starts to scrabble at the floor in their hurry to get up, but they are dragged back again - this time by their scabbarded weapon. The player is dragged back along the ground by their weapon and they fumble desperately trying to unbuckle it. They succeed just as they are dragged back to the edge of the pool and they see their weapon pulled into the water. The player scrambles to their feet, runs to the bracket and takes the torch just as the monster screams again. This time the scream is audibly different though: one of rage. The player looks back as they run and see water splashes indicative of something pulling itself out of the pool, and then the player regains control mid run.

What follows is a maze. (Think Amnesia's prison level if you have played it). The player runs through the maze desperately. They know that they are being chased. A couple of times they are even pushed over (with accompanying damage) but they get up and get away. Eventually the player becomes aware that they have lost the monster, but they are completely lost themselves. What ensues is the most terrifying game of cat and mouse. The player must move slowly, listening for sounds of their hunter, and put out the torch and hide if it sounds near. If they are found the monster screams and the camera pans to give the player an idea of what to run away from, and the chase resumes.

Eventually, whether being chased or not, all paths of the maze (it would have to be constructed so as to feel confusing but actually have a supportive linear structure to it so that the hunt did not become predictable or boring - this is meant to be a short, sharp burst of adrenaline and fear) converge on a portal positively spewing swirly light. The player eagerly runs towards it. Cue the final scripted sequence. The 'invisible' creature was lying in wait and detaches itself from the wall. The light coming from the portal directly behind it illuminates the faintest silhouette of a humanoid creature. The creature grabs the player character by the throat, lifts them off their feet and slams them against the wall. The character kicks at the faint outline of the creatures head, and each kick is accompanied by a shimmering effect under which the invisibility of the creature temporarily breaks. The third and hardest kick shatters the illusion completely, and the creature is revealed to be Hircine. His face looms into the camera. The character's kicking has broken the lower part of his mask and we can see the grin that spreads across his face. He draws back and we see the spear he is holding alongside the weapon that we lost earlier. He presses the weapons against the character and hurls the whole lot through the portal.

On the other side of the portal we find ourselves being catapulted through an upstairs window of the house that we entered for shelter in the first place. The spear, weapon and character smash through the window and hit the ground. It is midday. The character gets to their feet, and control is given back to the player. The weapons are in plain sight for easy pick up on the ground. Upon turning around there is no house there.

That's my vague idea for a Hircine quest. It needs an explanation for why the character cannot use magicka in the maze and I'm sure there are a few other technicalities that need to be cleared up before it could be realistically implemented into a TES game, but it would be damn memorable for sure. The werewolves at the beginning also tie in nicely with the Hircine theme - they are his minions and are only herding the character into his trap. Thanks to jack254 for an ending idea. I hope they don't mind that I shamelessly plagiarised it.

For starters, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1150182-cruel-cruel-way-to-tease-those-who-want-guns/page__st__20 sounds a must (this was really creative and also witty).

I'll come up with somethin and edit this (great thread idea, btw).

The Path of the Snow Prince

Premise: One of the only known relics of the Falmer culture is the Spear of the Snow Prince (see below). The player learns of a new discovery that could help find this legendary artifact, along with the resting place of the prince himself and potentially invaluable knowledge of the mysterious beings.



Description: After meeting with a scholar of ancient cultures, the player learns that newly found evidence in a remote region of Skyrim bears indications of ancient civilization. The scholar will pay the player to travel to this region and see if he can find any proof that it once supported intelligent life. Upon journeying to the location, the player will find it overrun with some beasts that must be fought off before there is a chance to investigate the area. Once this is done, the player can look around, and will find a couple basic indicators of ancient life (an ancient, broken pot; a rusty shard of metal that looks like it may have been part of a piece of armor). After clearing the area of threatening creatures and discovering the artifacts, the player should report back to the scholar. The scholar will want the player to accompany him to the site and help him to anolyze the area (and guard against any more dangerous wildlife that may come around).

Back at the site, the scholar will explain that he believes the artifacts may have been crafted by Falmer living in the area long ago. He says they would likely have a cave entrance nearby leading to their main community. After some searching, the player will uncover the cave entrance hidden behind a large boulder not too far away. The scholar will warn that the area may be protected by enchantments and traps, but will ask that the player consider exploring the cave anyway.

If you choose to enter the cave, you will be in a massive labyrinth of passages. There will be some creatures in the beginning, but as you get deeper into the cave, you will see fewer signs of life. You will start to face various traps and spells though. Eventually you will come across a chamber with the skeleton of a long-dead humanoid creature. Examine it and return to the scholar. When you describe the body to him, he will be more convinced than ever that it is the remains of a Falmer, and that this cave was once inhabited by a community of Falmer. He will return to the city to speak with some other researchers and/or council members about this discovery, and ask that you continue searching the cave.

Long story short, after much more exploration, you will find the burial chamber of the Snow Prince himself. Here you will find his Spear and a set of decorative armor, as well as some other treasure. You can take it all for yourself, or you can give some/all of it to the scholar to be displayed at a museum or university or something.

Once you complete this quest, you may be contacted by a "private collector" who wishes to meet you and discuss your findings. It turns out he knows some secrets about the Falmer too, and if you play your cards right, you may be in for a real epic adventure and a discovery that will put the last one to shame... But that's another quest altogether.

bleh, removed to be reworked

Here, I'll try one:

In the city of Falkreath, citizens whisper that one of its women is feeling troubled. Investigation leads to an elderly Nord widow. This woman tells you that she's unsettled because she's been visited in her dreams by her dead husband, who complains about the company he's had to endure lately - she gets too frightened to tell you anything more about his plight, but gives his name. She asks for you to visit their ancestral tomb at the graveyard outside of town, and gives you a key. And she gives specific instructions not to disturb the spirits.

So, you enter the tomb. It is a moderately small undead dungeon. There are ghosts, but they are passive - if you attack, they will retaliate until you cast a calm spell, go invisible or leave the tomb. And they'll spawn in large numbers to make it difficult. You walk around to search for the husband's grave. Reaching it, you notice that the lid to the coffin is off, and that something appears to be missing inside... There's no corpse! You see tracks leading toward a passage, and a crumpled note that looks like a shopping list. It says "Fresh clothes, check! Tea set, check! Tea, check! Friends to play with, still pending." It seems someone is having their way with the dead in this tomb.

You follow the passage, which is a tunnel leading back into town, ending in a basemant. There, you see a couple skeletons dressed up in frilly dresses and hats, seated around a tea set on the table, posed just so. If you follow the stairs to the main floor, you discover the house's occupant, a Khajiit. He looks very embarrassed at being discovered, and is quite talkative as a result. Through the dialogue, you can either choose to ( A ) attack him for being so deviant, ( B ) report him to the town guard and to the widow, ( C ) agree to help him cover it up, so long as he puts the corpses back and doesn't do it again, or ( D ) encourage him to continue. The results being:

A ) He dies. You get access to his little house, and the widow thanks you for putting things back in order by giving you 100 gold, while maligning the Khajiit's fate.
B ) You go to report him to the guards, but he is nowhere to be found, and his house is now locked. The widow thanks you for putting things back in order by granting you the husband's rare (but unenchanted) shield.
C ) The widow thanks you for putting things back in order by granting you the husband's rare (but unenchanted) shield. The Khajiit is grateful for your help, and gives you 500 gold.
D ) The Khajiit marvels at finding someone as necro-friendly as him, and offers you 100 gold, his bed at any time for free, plus a rare book that raises your Necromancy skill. The widow, meanwhile, is incensed and wants nothing more to do with you.

97 of Your Snows - A pedantic Alter scholar requires example of the 97 different types of snow native to SKYRIM! The player must sneak/crouch their way from one end of SKYRIM! to the other to get close enough to view the snow flakes. Once the player has found an example of each flake they must run at great speed before the flake melts! Failure to complete this quest in time results in teh player damagin their back so tehy stay in sneak/crouch and looking down until they die. Also SKYRIM! must always be "SKYRIM!" in your reports...er..SKYRIM!

Shovel snow for Count Urfulo.

And yet another +1.


I want to be able to do more mudane tasks. I don't wanna HAVE to constantly resort to mindless violence and rauaging tombs and caves and what-not. It would actually be great if, for my lower levelled characters, I could, say, do some manual labour, to save for that iron cuirass I've been eyeing up. I would actually fall in love with Bethesda if I could somehow perform some guard duties (more than just standing there, of course).

Removed

I'm afraid I've not quite read every post in this thread, but I've read most of them and didn't see anything like this come up, so...

A New Home for (the) [Faction Name]
A quest of many parts.

Premise:
You've risen pretty far in your faction, and the faction has decided that it wants to spread out more than it already is. It's found a few likely buildings in another town that it thinks it could occupy, and you've got to go and acquire one. By any means necessary.

-------------------------------
The options include:
An old inn:
Pros:
Slowly falling out of business, it has many rooms for guild/faction members, it already has beds, a basemant for training/storage, and several main rooms downstairs. In other words, it's perfect.
Cons:
The innkeeper himself is very stubborn and despite the lackluster business, is determined to turn it around. it's been owned by his family for the last three generations and he doesn't want to give up that much heritage.
Extra things to note on the building:
The inn itself is just off the centre of town, likely contributing to its lackluster business, especially as there is another inn around the corner. A thorough search of the place after purchasing it (and having been given the keys) will open up a door previously locked where there are several bodies hidden. Now decayed to simply skeletons, these could unlock further quests - perhaps a dark family secret. Perhaps dark magic? Whatever the cause, that door hadn't been opened in at least fifty years. Likely more.
Way around it:
Either kill him (and deal with the law/goad him into a fight etc. Whatever the game engine/mechanics allow), convince him that you're doing him a favour (requires good persuasion skills), or blackmail him. The blackmail can be done by speaking to several patrons who point you towards another woman in the town. If you manage to talk to her and convince her that "You're on her side", she'll talk and tell you that he [censored] her once, a while back. Alternately, for a more "family-friendly" story line, she could have witnessed him throw a drunkard back after closing time, who stumbled and bashed his head on the floor. He didn't get up again.

A Large House:
Pros:
It has a large basemant that goes quite a way underground and is well heated for the cold. The large space below ground would allow almost unlimited customisation (as the basemant spans maybe three times the size of the house). It also has a married couple who are looking to move away due to the recent political unrest (or the like - whatever Skyrim story provides). They're looking to sell cheaply.
Cons:
Being underground doesn't have the best feel to it. It's dark and quite often damp.
Extra things to note on the building:
The basemant (which you'll not be shown extensively before buying the property) is actually set out like a series of torture chambers. Worse, there is a section that you haven't been given a key for. Unlocking it will show that it opens up a secret passageway leading into the town jail (or equivalent. Fort?). This opens a potential series of short quests looking into the secret passageway, the reasons why it's there, and finally, either attempting to close it off, or exploit it (depending on faction/outcome of quests etc). Another possible ending: Shortly after moving in, the movements inside the secret passageway lead to its discovery on the other side and the temporary confiscation of the building by the local authorities. Tempers heat up... etc etc.
Way around it:
This one's fairly simple to get hold of and largely just requires money. A little more than the inn, but it doesn't require all of the effort to go through to get it. All of the interesting things happen after you find out the true nature of the house. No wonder they were so eager to sell it off...

An Almost-finished Building Project:
Pros:
Relatively cheap. Lots of customization.
Cons:
Takes a while to build. Will need to oversee construction.
Extra things to note on the building:
The background behind this is that before the [recent unrest - whatever Bethesda makes the game about/happens in the background] came around just as a couple had got half way through turning their small shack into a large, quasi-mansion to accommodate their triplets/family coming to live with them/whatever other reason you want to give. Then [the event] happened, and suddenly, finishing the "mansion" doesn't seem to be at the top of their priority list any more. Instead they're trying to move out too and get to somewhere safer. As such, the house is being sold cheaply on the understanding there's still a month's work by a team of five or so labourers working most of the way through the day. The Guild (likely you) will have to chose different options, such as room layouts, furnishings etc, giving you lots of customisation. This one's also fairly easy to come by, so you may want to include something to make it more interesting. Perhaps an auction to local families etc? Before the auction takes place, you might want to go and inspect the likely buyers by asking locals about it, giving you options to persuade people not to take part, or to intimidate them into letting you win cheaply. As an extra option for the goody-goodies, having won (or lost) the bidding, you can go and give extra money to the family for the trip, if you managed to drive the price too low.



Having acquired a building, you report back, and are then put in charge with furnishing it, given a shopping list, and told to be creative in what you get. More options here as to what you fit it out with, and it will be reflected later on in the decorations inside etc. Having done that, you then have to report back, where your [Local faction leader] will inspect it, declare it "Shoddy at best, but it'll have to do"... Whereupon he promotes you to leader of the local guild hall until a replacement can be found, and tells you to start hiring recruits.


Thus beginning a 6-8 quest series of missions establishing the guild, dealing with local trouble makers, making your presence known throughout the community, establishing a good (or bad) name for yourselves, and then helping out in [matters of semi-importance to main plot] before finally having to make it ready for an inspection (just as people go missing etc, as always happens). Finally, you hand the running of the hall over to your new underling, who happily takes over the day-to-day running of the place, and you advance in rank, heading ever onwards and upwards in your guild, and now in a position to almost challenge the leader - having successfully established a (now thriving) guildhall.


Sound good?

Collect 10 rat pelts. They have a 10% to drop and there is only 12 rats outside of town, now go.

I doubt Bethesda would implement any of our ideas, at least not in the same way we have expressed them... Plus, there are plenty of ways of ensuring that they don't get into any legal trouble for doing so. I don't recall the ToS for registering for this site but if I were Bethesda, I'd probably include a clause that grants Bethesda the right to use any idea submitted by a poster if it the idea is related to any of their games. Even if they do not have such a clause, I still think they'd have a great case for themselves if a legal issue arose, as they created the content we're using to make quests... So the argument a poster would have against them could be turned around and used against the poster... Unless, that is, the poster's idea was 100% original content (i.e. no mention of Nords, Dunmer, Skyrim, Hrothgar, Akaviri, or any other people, places, things, or concepts created by Bethesda for the Elder Scrolls.

Plus, if your concern had a strong support, the same logic could be applied to the "Ideas & Suggestions" threads, and hundreds of posters here could claim that Bethesda implemented their idea from thread 65 or whatever.

Crazy Eye Steve: I wood liek yoo to doo sum jumpin' jacks an' dancer mooves an' I might pay yoo sumthin'
Your character: ..No, Steve, you do that..and pay me if you do so correctly.
Crazy Eye Steve: Mmmkay then (burst into jumping jacks and dance moves)

You receive: 250 gold pieces

Easy as pie.

Quest Name: Ring Of Lies

Description:

You run into a man (womanizer) who tells you that he has a terrible problem. He has been handing out fake gold rings to different women all over town in order to make them fall in love with him, but he has accidentally given a real gold enchanted ring (Fortify Personality +10, Fortify Intelligence +5) to one of the women. He tells you that there are 5 different women around town and that one of them must have the ring, if you retrieve the ring and return it to him, he will pay you handsomely and give you the location to a stash of money he has hidden outside the city (1000 gold).

You have two options here should you accept. You can either:

A- Find the woman with the real ring and steal it from her when she is asleep and return it
or...
B- Talk to each of the women and inform them of his cheating ways. You tell them to all meet outside of his house at 1 am so they can exact their revenge on the liar.

The Outcomes:

Choice A- The man is grateful and gives you the location of the stash of gold and the quest ends
or...
Choice B- The women break into his house and team up on him and kill him. The women are so outraged that they drop their rings on the floor and leave, this is your chance to retrieve the enchanted ring and the quest ends.

Not bad if I do say so myself :hubbahubba:

An old tower made by an insane architect hundreds of years ago has recently been rediscovered, and the local governments have put up a reward for any adventurer who can clear and map out the tower. Except the architect put in many puzzles, traps and undead to stand in your way. Fairly standard dungeon crawl, but with more emphasis on puzzles and disabling/avoiding traps than straight up combat. The architect lich'd himself in the top of the tower and if you beat him theres a rack with a unique sword, mace, bow, staff and others if they choose to bring weapons back from earlier games, but you can only take one before they all disappear. Then you can go and collect a monetary reward from the Count or whatever they're being called.

I am not familiar with the hierarchies of power within Skyrim so this quest would have to be built around what the existing lore states.

Politics are more important than ever in Skyrim. With civil war looming, gaining allies is a priority for everyone. Those who represent their people hold an inordinately disproportionate amount of power over them. The current councillor of Whiterun is not without his corrupt and greedy side, but the town is prospering under his rule and he is well liked by the councillors of the other settlements.

An up and coming captain of the guard - respected by Whiterun's troops for her courage, intelligence and fairness but feared by the militaries of Windhelm and Riften for her striking efficiency, desire to increase Whiterun's interests and quick rise through the ranks despite a patriarchal hierarchy - hears about the extraordinary deeds of the player character and approaches them for their aid.

She is interested in replacing the current Whiterun councillor herself. She points to his corruption and what she sees as the slow expansion of Whiterun under his direction as proof of the need for his removal. However, she is worried that an open revolt would totally alienate Windhelm and Riften and give them a common enemy in the upcoming civil war. The councillor must be removed by what appears to be his own free will. The captain suggests several paths:

• If their alchemy skill is high enough the player could spike the councillor's food so as to poison his mind and make him unfit to govern so that he would have to step down. The people of Whiterun would demand that this happen and the only logical replacement is the captain.
  
• If their speech skill (or charisma equivalent) is high enough then they can openly persuade the councillor to publicly step down. The player would be fairly well respected at this point in the game, giving the councillor reason to listen to what they have to say.
  
• If a threat to Whiterun became apparent it would give the captain good reason to impose martial law. This is the default option in case a player happens to have low skills at this point in the game.
  
• The player can humiliatingly expose the councillor's corruption. This requires much detective work and fairly high sneak, security, intelligence and charisma levels. The people drive the councillor out of Whiterun.
  
• The player can go round Whiterun raising support for the captain, probably by doing odd jobs for the citizens or becoming better friends with them that they might trust what the PC says without question.

The first and second and fifth options have Windhelm and Riften treat the captain as the new councillor coolly. There seems to have been no foul play but the old councillor was still preferred to the new captain. The captain is indebted to the player for their help and this manifests in a quest later on that gives access to something cool as well as access to the Whiterun castle stockrooms and guard armoury. Whiterun, Windhelm and Riften are neutral towards each other in the civil war, with only minor skirmishes taking place between them.

The third option has Windhelm and Riften immediately feeling threatened by Whiterun, and Whiterun's people resentful of the captain. The captain is grateful and the player gains access to the Whiterun stockrooms and guard armoury, but she is too engaged with keeping the peace and trying to diffuse the threat from Windhelm and Riften for the aforementioned further quest to take place. Whiterun suffers in the civil war when Windhelm and Riften ally against her.

The fourth option has the captain welcomed as councillor by Whiterun's people. The councillors of Windhelm and Riften are surprised to learn of the old councillor's corruption and also welcome the change. The captain is extremely grateful. As well as access to the quest, armoury and stockrooms, all traders in Whiterun give discounts to the player and the old councillor's (otherwise inaccessible) house is given to the player for free. Whiterun expands slightly over the course of the game and Whiterun, Windhelm and Riften are allies in the civil war, with the captain being a driving force in the call for peace.

Edit: option numero seis - the player decides that either the councillor's corruption is not having too much of an adverse effect on Whiterun or that there is more to be gained by siding with him. They reveal the captain's disloyalty. The councillor is outraged. He orders the Whiterun militia to arrest the captain. However, she manages to rally some of the militia to her cause - the ones who respect her the most - and Whiterun battles with itself. Eventually the captain scraqes a victory and the councillor flees. The captain is furious with the player and exiles them from Whiterun - for what it's worth. Windhelm and Riften quickly annex Whiterun and it ceases to be known as such. The councillor roams Skyrim for the rest of the game, drinking his way into madness and resentful of the captain and the player. The captain is imprisoned in Windhelm. The player can break her out at a later date, and a small questline ensues which is them putting their differences aside to try and win Whiterun's independence again. Eventually they succeed, but Whiterun is extremely diminished as a power and some of it has been destroyed in the annexing. The player gets access to the same discounts, armoury and stockrooms as before (no further quest and no house though) but the usefulness of each has been severely diminished. To make up for this, the player gets a couple of permanent skill boosts in the journey to restore Whiterun to independence.

I might come back to this questline. I like it :3

I want some "Book Based" quests.

I mean, you take a random book and decide to read it, and in that book you might read some info that would let you some actions and reach a conclusion and reward, all of those without starting an actual quest with target markers and the lot.

I.e., you just followed the lines in the quest and tried to perform them, for instance:

• The book might be a diary of some sort, that described how the writer found a well hidden cave in a mountain range, and how he entered that cave and his day to day adventures in that cavern complex, and how he survived the pitfalls, in there, and how he found the treasure map, and how he found a way to decipher the puzzles in that map, and how he followed the instructions on that map, and gathered clues around the cavern complex, trying to find the way out, while fighting the local monsters, and his final mistake as he found his way out, and how he does not hope to survive his near doom; and the final add-on of the one who found the diary near the entrance, and why he did not try to follow the authors instructions, and instead of that, sold the diary to a passing merchant.
  
• The book might be an explanation of some coded notes that one could find scattered around the world, so that in future you could be able to crack their mystery, and know what are they, and maybe find some treasures because of that.
  
• A scroll inside a bottle found beside a river bank, as a plea for help from a prisoner in a known castle beside the river, up in the mountains, and how and why she was captured and held in that castle. I think this one would result in an actual quest line.
  
• An actual map on a deer skin parchment, with rough detail and estimations, and an "X marks the spot" note in the end.
  
• There can be several such maps around the world, for pirate loot, and the like, each with it's unique flavor, or even better a treasure map generator, that makes such maps on the fly, and hides them in a nearby inventory loot, and places the final treasure in the destination, on the fly, waiting to be found. And you might need a shovel to dig it out, like in Fallout NV.
  
• A notebook of a former prisoner in a well guarded castle, and describing how he found/dug his way out of the castle, and how it is possible to return back inside the castle, and where to find valuable loot in that castle, and how he wants to return there as soon as he raises from the sick bed. You know the rest.
  
• The notes of a legendary merchant that knew exactly what merchandise sell better in what towns or villages, and the tricks to find out what to purchase and were to sell it for better prices.
  
• The traveling notes of a long dead pilgrim and his little gems of knowledge about tricks he learned in different places, and how those tricks helped him in their local situations, and his rewards in those situations.
  
• You name it...

Have to take a boat from the northern coast...travel to the pack ice region, get out, and go hunting/fishing etc.