- "While you were away, we came to visit your lovely new house. Your spouse (Actual text is the name of the Dragonborn spouse.) made us feel right at home. In fact, we liked your spouse (Actual text is the name of the Dragonborn spouse.) so much we took her (If the Dragonborn's spouse is male: "him") back to our camp (Actual text is the name of the location of the bandits.) with us."
- ―Rochelle the Red[src]
Kidnapped for Ransom is a quest available in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The Dragonborn's spouse is kidnapped and held for ransom by Rochelle the Red and her bandits.
Objectives[]
- Read the bandit's Ransom Note
- Rescue spouse from the location
Walkthrough[]
When the Dragonborn returns home, one day they might be met by a group of bandits. The Dragonborn will be given a note detailing the kidnapping of their spouse. The leader of this group, Rochelle the Red, demands a ransom of 5000 
for the Dragonborn's spouse.
Once reading the note, the Dragonborn may choose to pay the ransom or return their spouse safely by other means. Once reaching Rochelle's hideout, they will need to either pay the ransom or attack the bandit group. If the player chooses to pay, the spouse will be returned to the Dragonborn. If attacked and provoked, every bandit within the hideout will need to be killed to rescue the Dragonborn's spouse.
Possible locations[]
| Homestead | Bandit location |
|---|---|
| Heljarchen Hall | Frostmere Crypt |
| Lakeview Manor | Bilegulch Mine Cracked Tusk Keep Embershard Mine Knifepoint Ridge |
| Windstad Manor | Orotheim Robber's Gorge Ustengrav |
Journal[]
| Kidnapped for Ransom – BYOHHouseBanditAttack2 | |
|---|---|
| ID | Journal Entry |
| 40 |
|
| 50 |
|
Trivia[]
- This quest will only start if the Dragonborn's spouse is occupying one of the homesteads able to be built with Hearthfire, and if the housecarl assigned to the homestead is unavailable, or the current follower of the Dragonborn.
Bugs[]
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This section contains bugs related to Kidnapped for Ransom. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
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- Rochelle the Red may actually never be seen, as she may not deliver the note to the Dragonborn and/or not be found at the location that her bandits are at.
- The quest may end suddenly if the Dragonborn enters their house before going to the rescue. To avoid this, upon receiving the quest go directly to the site where their spouse is held without entering their house.
- PS3 XB1 The Dragonborn's spouse may become bugged, with an almost constant, backwards-walking animation. They may also get stuck along the way from the bandit lair back to their home. This can be fixed on PC by clicking on the spouse in the console and using the "Resurrect" command. Another way to fix this bug is to recruit the spouse as a follower, then beat them until they leave the Dragonborn's service, but not enough to turn them hostile. They should then be able to walk freely. (Not all spouses are capable of becoming followers, so this would only work for those who can.)
- Another "cure" for the backwards-walking is to have the spouse follow, then travel to a known Dragon Lair. The Dragon may be able to do enough damage without actually killing them. This seems to "knock" the bug out of them as well.
- Yet another cure for the backwards-walking glitch is to keep completing Dawnguard side-quests until the spouse is kidnapped by vampires for the "Rescue" quest. Once rescued, they should be walking normally from then on.
- Another found "cure" for this is to reload a previous save, and instead of traveling to the homestead, travel to the place in which the spouse is captured. Do not attack any bandits until reaching the Bandit Chief. The spouse can be freed, and they will follow the Dragonborn until returning to the homestead, walking normally into the house.
- PS3 (Fix) Another way to "cure" the bug is to go to the mine, kill all outside bandits, then inside the mine run to where your wife is (if the "quest complete" message appears, reload your save), kill the nearest bandit who is the one with the prison key, open the prison, talk to our wife then kill the rest of the bandits. This way, the walking bug and the talking options should work fine.
- The bandit "messenger" may turn hostile and attack before she can be spoken to. If Shadowmere has been obtained, then the horse will begin to start fighting the bandit on sight when fast traveling to Lakeview Manor. To fix this, leave the horse at Pinewatch or Falkreath. Then travel to Lakeview Manor on foot, engage in dialogue with the bandit, then travel to mine.
- NX In a rare case, upon the bandit becoming hostile as above, they will not register as an enemy but will attack the Dragonborn nonetheless. After acquiring the ransom note, the quest marker will lead inside the Dragonborn's house rather than another location. Entering, their spouse can be found inside, with dialogue as if they were just rescued. The quest then completes.
- Following the quest, certain speech options, such as the option to ask the spouse for the Dragonborn's share of profits or to move to another house, may become inaccessible.
- PC If Barbas from "A Daedra's Best Friend" is with the Dragonborn, he will attack the Bandit who appears to be giving the quest and the ransom note.
- PC If the spouse has a previous home or bed (e.g., Aela at Jorrvaskr), they may go there instead of the radiant location. Going there will trigger the correct dialog ("I knew you'd come for me.") and they will return to the Dragonborn's homestead.