PSA: How to fix Birna and her brother standing outside the shop staring at each other..

[CONTRABARDUS]

Decided to post this as I've run into this a few times, and I've seen a lot of unanswered posts about it. So, for the sake of future Google searches...

 

When you first enter Winterhold and there is a random attack, the pair will bug and just stand there staring at each other. Nothing you can do to them in the game will fix this, aside from reloading before you entered town and hoping there isn't a bandit or dragon attack triggered when you get there, which happens a lot.

 

This is especially bad if you have mods in that increase the number of hostile NPCs and attacks. Dragon mods that increase spawns or mods that increase the amount of bandits.

 

It's annoying because Birna never goes into the shop and you can't trade with her.

 

Just open the console with "`/~" and type "startscene B2175", which will restart the scene between the two. Once it completes they will both go on their way and start their daily routines.

 

If Ranmir is dead and she's still standing there, just use stopquest 000b2174. This will return her to her daily routine and she should start manning the shop. When he dies, sometimes the quest doesn't end because they never had the conversation, so she just stands there in front of the shop. You can't complete this quest without Ranmir anyway, so you're not missing anything.

 

If you're on a console, I'm afraid your only option is to go to an earlier save and "arrive" in Winterhold until there isn't an attack when you get there. Saving often is very important in Skyrim, not only because of crashes, but because of bugs like this one.

 

Also, even if she is outside, you should still be able to talk to her and get the claw at least. Sometimes she bugs and the option to buy it won't appear, but you should be able to just talk to her again and it should show up.

 

 

 

[PineCone1]

+1 thanks homie! not only did I have one bandit attack, I walked inside the inn, took a nap, and had a second one come when I walked back outside lol

Edited June 14, 2018 by PineCone1

[ubehome]

Helped me big time, thanks!

[c0ax599]

I think I got the same problem... But the difference is, Birna got killed in the Dragon attack!

Kinda peaves me that noone is ever manning the only store in town :\ I so far have just not worried about it but if there's a little fix i'd be open to it......

 

I'm hesitant to try that command since she's dead..

[Mordreadeq]

2019 And another Skyrim play through! This was my first time running into the bug. So many thank you(s) for the solution. As for cOax599, Make a save (or two saves to be oversafe) and try the fix. if it doesn't work just reload the game, nothing lost. You may be able to re-spawn her chr as well though you would have to google and look up her spawn code. Good Luck

[BllueSmoke]

Just witnessed them having a staring contest and this solved my problem. Never had this before, but loved how quickly I could fix it, thanks for this post.

Thanks friend <3

[maky55]

Thank you so much. I've never had this before but in this recent playthough. I have mods such as ETAC, Open Cities and some dragon adding mods and the organized bandit mod so I figure one of those caused it. Thanks!

[ericspace1]

A dragon decided to attack right as I entered Winterhold and probably screwed up their AI, but this fixed it. Thank you.

[nagaira]

Thank you a lot. A dragon attacked few seconds after I arrived to Wintherhold. I didn't notice that Birna and her brother were stucked. I just realized that after I was thane of Wintherhold. And I had no saves!!!! >_<

 

Finally it is fixed and Birna is in her shop. So, thank you again.

Edited October 31, 2019 by nagaira

[Lochian]

You, my friend, are a lifesaver!