Ok, so for the first time ever i am picking one of these thing up, and it turns out that either i collect twenty-some, or they're pretty much worthless. Thing is i only have found three, and finding all of them seems like a daunting task given the fact that there are thousands of locations where they can be. Im not the kind of person to explore every single location i stumble upon cus im kinda paranoid with my file size. (Im on the PS3)

So basically what im trying to say is, are there any in game hints or books with riddles and such, that describe or name these locations, or do they randomly spawn on any location on the map. Im reluctant to check the wiki pages because i dont want to spoil it or get the urge to cheat. But is full blown exploration the only way to find them without using the wikis, or am i missing something here.

Thanks to all who contribute in advance.

I had on my first playthrough. Its VERY difficult to do without prior knowledge or cheating.

They have a set location you just have to be vigilant enough to see them. Certain quests will lead you by them (meaning they'll be on a table or something) but there are no true 'hints' to where they are.

Look in strange places, usually they'll be out in the open (of the room) but in some odd location on the map.

i do it with every character. used UESP for the locations though, not sure if that counts as cheating, but i did not use exploits, glitches, or console commands to obtain all 24.

Looking up the locations is pretty much cheating.

meh. i went through at least 3 or 4 different playthroughs thinking they were worthless. just another shiny collectable. got fed up so i looked them up and got big dollar signs in my head. its pretty difficult to do without looking up the locations.

In my opinion, once you hit the higher levels the gift you get is pretty much useless.