[Spoilers] Skyrim references?

Given that the quest turns out to be a joke that they do on newbies, to me it kinda also feels like they are pulling a joke on the player. Like, it first looks like there is some magic item that the player has to retrieve, like one would do in Skyrim. But then it turns out like haha it's just a joke, did you really think there were magic items in space? Is there a concrete Skyrim quest this could be a reference to?

I also feel the same about the scientist in New Atlantis, the one with the tree. Reminds me of the nettlebane quest.

Do you have any other quests you think could be Skyrim references?