Xbox 360 Hearthfire: Can't Rescue Wife

[namelessgrace]

So, I recently downloaded Hearthfire. I built the house in Falkreath, moved in my wife, adopted two kids and hired a steward. All was going well. Sure, the house had been attacked several times, but no bugs.

Well, I come home after an unrelated quest, and I get a ransom note stating that my wife, Ysolda, has been kidnapped and to bring 5,000 gold (or something like that.) So, I go to Embershard mine, and I am attacked as soon as I get there. I eventually defeat the bandits out front and enter the mine. As soon as I do, it says that the quest to rescue my wife has been completed. I ignore it, continue on, find my wife and she's stuck in her cell. I mean literally. She just stands there walking in place like she is going to magically phase through the bars of the cell. Also, she's talking to me as if we are at the house. You know, "Hello, my love! Back from some adventure I bet!" I even got the shop money from her. I tried using Unrelenting Force on her to try and unstick her and it failed. I thought, well, it said she had been rescued, so maybe she'll just come home. So I go back home, she's not there. I wait 14 hours, and she's still not there.

What went wrong? Is this just a bug? Did I mess up in killing everyone? I figured that the quests could be completed by either handing over the cash or killing everyone. Really, considering I was attacked on sight, there was no one to give the cash to. Did bringing the steward with me cause the problem? I haven't reloaded the save yet because the last save I have is during the middle of the quest I was on before I got the note and I rage-quit when I realized this. I'm going to go back later and see if this fixes anything, but I would like to know if anyone here has had a similar experience and what you did to fix it.

 

[Caplino]

It is a glitch. Had a problem with it myself. I think the problem lies in when the bandit who has the ransom note dies before talking to you, as she once tried to talk to be but my housecarl killer her before she could and she keeps saying she is on my side when I attack her.

I avoided the issue as I had a save just before I went back to my house. So what I did was to instead of going to the my house, I just travelled directly to the location they were keeper her so I wouldn't encounter the bandit at the house. I arrived and talked to the bandit leader who wanted the 5000 gold. I said no to giving them the gold, defeated them all, went into the mine, took care of the leader inside and lockpicked the prison that my wife was in. She said something like, " I knew you would come for me! Let's get out of here!". She then follows me out and after we leave the camp she goes back to normal. I fast travel back to my house and she is there and she is happy and normal.

I also happened to find a dead dragon on the road and found that some of the bandits were very pleasant as they were at the forge just making jokes and forging stuff. So a bit of a glitchy little quest but it is possible to avoid the glitchy part.

Hope it helps!

 

[JClarke1953]

Kidnapped? Really? So, Skyrim IS trying to make it interesting by putting your family in harms way?! Well, long as the kid's are good! Too bad a good dog or two can't be gotten to guard the home. And the housecarl ought to be dead for not protecting her better, lol.

I have my eye on Ysolda too, but she was always wanting to buy the Inn in Whiterun. So, she doesn't whine being out in the sticks like that rather than staying in a city/town?

I'll keep an eye out for that glitch, thanks for the heads up.