Side Quest Idea: The Bread Bandits (work with me here).
The Bread Bandits are a gang of bandits with an eccentric leader who believes Bread is the the most valuable substance in exhistance, more so than even Mithril/Platinum/Whatever it is.
While seemingly harmless, the Bread Bandits can be rather a nuisance, because they've been known to raid caravans, ruin business, and steal all the bread in town. Just because the leader is crazy, he shouldn't be underestimated because he's a powerful mage.
This was the scenario from the first Pen and Paper RPG I've ever played. Simple yet effective. My personal favorite moment in it is when I cast a sleep spell onto the Bandit leader's horse, while they were charging a caravan, and caused the horse to drop to sleep in mid gallop, and throw the guy off of it.
Oh the good old days.