Daggerfall:Counterfeit Gold

Quick Walkthrough
# Talk to a Merchant or an Innkeeper.
# Travel to any of the locations you were told.
# Find and retrieve the false gold.
# Head back to your employer within the time limit and collect your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough
thumb|right|The counterfeit gold made its way to a bank...
thumb|right|...a palace...
thumb|right|...a creepy dungeon...
thumb|right|...and a mansion
thumb|right|You may face resistance from battlemages...
thumb|right|...knights...
thumb|right|...or spellswords, none of whom are aware of your mission
 
Fool's Gold
Speak to a merchant or innkeeper, who says:

:''"(Player's first name), I may be in very great trouble indeed. It would appear that one of my former associates, in an effort to make my life more hellish, has passed some counterfeit gold bricks to me. Innocently I passed them on to four of my most valued allies in return for services rendered. I obviously must retrieve those bricks before they discover that the gold is foscarium, which may be in (time limit) days or less. I am paying (random gold) gold pieces for each bar of false gold that you can retrieve. Sound agreeable?"

Accept
The merchant or innkeeper goes on:

:"(Oath), that's good. Now, one of the bars is in a bank called Bank of (region) in (bank town); one is in a stronghold called (dungeon); one is in (palace town) at the palace there; the last is in (residence) in (residence town). Now, recall that you only have (time limit) days for this, and I'd rather have one in that time than all four. Good luck, (player's first name). (Random god) bless your journey."

Decline
The merchant or innkeeper answers:

:"No? Really? Very well. Someone else will be more agreeable, I'm certain of that."

Gather the "Gold"
Regardless of what your employer said when giving you the quest (and what your logbook will tell you), you will only get paid for one''' specimen of foscarium, regardless how many you retrieve altogether. This makes successfully completing the quest quest much easier than it sounds as you only need to find and return with one of the four bricks.

As your employer stated, the four samples are located in a bank, a dungeon, a palace, and a residence, all across the region. The time limit for this quest is not very forgiving, but given that you only need one sample for a successful completion it shouldn't be much of an issue.

The simplest brick of false gold to retrieve is the one in the bank; when you visit the building during its regular business hours you won't even need to pick the entry door's lock. Sometimes the bank will be guarded by a pair of battlemages, and more guards may appear after you have picked up the false gold, but they shouldn't be too much trouble. Fight or escape after picking up the false brick and bring it back to your employer (or go after more foscarium if you wish).

The palace and the residence are much the same, but guarded by knights and spellswords, respectively. Additionally, the residence may be locked at all times so be prepared. The dungeon is a simple dungeon crawl; the false gold will be at a random quest location within.

When you are ready to complete the quest, return to your employer for your reward.

Reward
Upon returning with an exemplar of the false gold, your employer says:

:''(Oath), well done, (player's first name). I was afraid I hadn't given you enough time. Here's your real gold in exchange for that false gold."''

Reputation Gain/Loss
 

Enemies
Random dungeon monsters
10x Two Knights every ten in-game minutes (20% chance) once you enter the palace
10x Two Spellswords every ten in-game minutes (20% chance) once you enter the residence
10x Two Battlemages every ten in-game minutes (20% chance) once you enter the bank

Notes
Since the exemplars of false gold are quest objects, they will disappear from your inventory as soon as the quest is over. Therefore, you can't keep any extras for yourself.
Even though the samples are fake, they are still worth 20 gold apiece. You could sell them as long as the quest is still active, but given how much effort is required to collect them it is probably not worth the trouble.

Bugs
As above, despite what you are told you only get paid for one brick of false gold upon your return, regardless how many you have retrieved altogether.
This is corrected by DFQFIX; you will now get a reward for each false gold brick you return, but to complete the quest you still only need to return one. Additionally, unreturned samples of false gold will not disappear when the time limit expires.
With this mod, the quest will count as a success after its time limit expires and you have brought back at least one sample of foscarium. Returning all four will end the quest as soon as you have given them to your employer. 
The pay for each brick will go directly into your inventory. To add this gold to your total, you must place the gold pieces on the ground (or into your wagon) and pick them up again. If you take the gold directly from your inventory, it will vanish forever.

Additional Dialogue
If you speak to the quest giver while this quest is in progress, they may say:
"(Random god), would you please hurry?"
After you have accepted this quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
''"Some chap just asked directions to (bank). He didn't look like a banker."
"They're apparently recruiting at (dungeon). At least, it's pretty active there."
"(Palace) is improving its security, due to rumors about thieves in the area."
"The maid at (residence) said she saw some undesirables watching the place."
If you fail the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"(Ruler's title) (ruler's name) is  seems to think that the head of the smuggling operation is (employer's name)."
"(Employer's name) has apparently been smuggling foscarium, pretending its gold."
"(Palace) has cut off relations with (employer's name) completely, from what I hear."
"(Dungeon) is working toward breaking up every aspect of (employer's name)'s business."
If you successfully complete the quest, NPCs may say when asked for any news:
"(Employer's name) has kindly replaced all the gold (his/her) clumsy allies lost to theft."
"(Employer's name)'s popularity with the top business leaders in (region) continues to rise."
If you successfully complete the quest, the quest giver may later greet you with:
"Hail and hello, you bearer of false gold."
If you failed the quest, the quest giver will greet you with:
"I trusted you with my financial future once, remember, (player's first name)?

Quest Log