Either the first or second time Farkas or Vilkas is spoken to after completing "Glory of the Dead," they will ask for help on a quest of a personal matter, and will request that the Dragonborn go with them back to Ysgramor's Tomb and perform the same ritual that was done with Kodlak in order to cleanse themselves of their beast blood.
Must complete at least one radiant quest from Farkas or Vilkas, after completing "Glory of the Dead" with Glenmoril Witch Head(s) in one's inventory.
Must not already have a follower when speaking to Farkas or Vilkas.
Walkthrough
After completing "Glory of the Dead," return to Jorrvaskr and talk with either Farkas or Vilkas. Instead of offering one of the usual radiant quests, they will ask for help cleansing themselves of their beast blood.
The Dragonborn must have the Glenmoril Witch head(s), (see "Blood's Honor"), in the inventory before accepting a radiant quest, or "Purity" will not be available.
The quest is relatively easy, as the shortcut to the final room is already open and allows for easy access. The only enemy in the quest is Farkas's/Vilkas's wolf spirit, unless the tomb has not been previously completely cleared by the Dragonborn.
Once the quest is over, Farkas/Vilkas will be cured of their lycanthropy and will offer the usual radiant quests.
Journal
Journal Entry
<quest giver> wants to be cured of lycanthropy, and has asked me to help him. We must take a Glenmoril Witch's head to the Tomb of Ysgramor to perform the same ceremony which cured Kodlak.
Objective: Collect a Glenmoril Witch's head
Objective: Cleanse <quest giver> of beastblood
Objective: Kill <quest giver>'s wolf spirit
Objective: Talk to <quest giver>
I helped <quest giver> cure himself of lycanthropy.
Quest complete
Trivia
If the witch heads are stored somewhere and then retrieved after completing a few radiant quests, "Purity" will not show up immediately when talking to Farkas or Vilkas. The Dragonborn must first complete a radiant quest from each of them, with the witch head(s) in the inventory to make "Purity" available.
When asking for a job from either Vilkas or Farkas, if they have the option, "Is there any work to be done?", they may offer this quest.
It might be a good idea to bring at least one Cure Disease potion to the fight with Farkas'/Vilkas' Wolf Spirits, since it is possible to contract Rockjoint from them.
While Kodlak's Wolf Spirit is red, Vilkas' and Farkas' (as well as the Dragonborn's, if they choose to cure themselves) Wolf Spirits are blue.
Bugs
This section contains bugs related to Purity. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:
Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template 360 / XB1 , PS3 / PS4 , PC / MAC , NX / PS5 , XS , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.
Click to see the list of bugs encountered
360 To avoid bugs, first speak to Vilkas. He gives a random quest, then he gives his "Purity" quest, (remember to have the head(s) in the inventory). Decline his "Purity" quest. If Farkas does not give any quest after that, take one of Aela's random quests and complete it. This will unblock Farkas's random quest. Do the quest and then complete his "Purity" quest. When that is done, Vilkas will complete his "Purity" quest without a problem.
360 One does not need to speak to Vilkas and decline his "Purity" quest to avoid bugs. Instead, alternate Farkas' quests with Vilkas' throughout the Companions' main questline; one from Farkas after beating Vilkas and being shown to the Dragonborn's room, and one from Vilkas after retrieving Wuuthrad's fragments from Dustman's Cairn. Continue to alternate quests from the brothers in this manner. After curing Kodlak inside Ysgramor's Tomb, find Farkas and get another quest from him. After Farkas gives his "Purity" quest, complete it and this should allow Vilkas' "Purity" quest to be given and completed without problems.
If the Dragonborn arrives at Ysgramor's Tomb before Vilkas, while the quest is already enabled, and cleanses Vilkas without him present, then the option to talk to Vilkas afterwards will not be there. The quest will instead count as finished, and Vilkas will cease to give any side quests. Upon returning to Jorrvaskr, Skjor is found to be alive and still refers to the Dragonborn as a "whelp." He also has no side quests available.
PC 360 PS3 After declining Vilkas's "Purity" quest, neither Farkas nor Aela have the option for any side quests in their dialogue―only the option to "Follow me." When attempting Vilkas's "Purity" quest, he leaves the Dragonborn as soon as they step outside of Jorrvaskr and the quest is moved to the 'Completed' list. Speaking to Vilkas again only offers the "Dragon Seekers" quest. When attempting to recruit a follower, characters will note that the Dragonborn already has someone with them when they do not. This bug is due to the "Purity" quest.
After completing "Purity" with either Farkas or Vilkas, if the Dragonborn immediately talks to the other one, sometimes the quest will show up in the completed quest section, and the altar in Ysgramor's Tomb will not be able to be activated.
This can be solved by loading a save state from before the first "Purity" mission was accepted, re-completing it, then doing another mission. Any mission should do, an "Animal Extermination" mission from Aela does the job nicely. After doing another mission, talking to the second of the two brothers starts the mission the way it's supposed to and it can be completed.
360 If Vilkas's "Purity" quest is accepted before Farkas', the quest status may switch to "completed" even though it hasn't been completed. Also, Vilkas will not follow the Dragonborn to Ysgramor's Tomb.
This can be resolved by accepting and finishing Farkas' "Purity" quest first, being sure that the quest giver is following the whole way through.
A quick fix is to exit the conversation when the speech choices are, "get up,""are you better," or "I have killed it," then spam "use" on the altar.
Sometimes after activating the Flame of the Harbinger, the Dragonborn will still have the same number of Witch Heads as before.
This can be fixed by dropping and picking them up at the altar.
Another possible fix:
Get a Glenmoril Witch Head in one's inventory.
Ask the brother to be cleansed to follow.
Travel to the tomb by any means and stand next to the fire.
Tell him it is time to part ways.
Immediately speak with him again and accept quest.
Click fire and kill wolf spirit.
PC If all above fails, then console command:
setstage cr13 10 – this restarts the quest
setstage cr13 20 – if there is a witch head already in inventory
setstage cr13 100 – finishes quest
360 If one does not get cured immediately after "Glory of the Dead," the Flame of the Harbinger cannot be used unless a side contract from both Farkas and Vilkas has been completed.
Do one contract from each of them, then the second time one asks for work they will start the "Purity" quest.
360 Vilkas may not leave Jorrvaskr even after he has already been talked to about being cured.
This may be fixed in this manner: Walk back in and talk to Vilkas, "Purity" quest should be in the completed bin, he should offer work. If he does accept it and finish the mission he gives. When the mission is completed, Farkas and Aela should now offer work. Talk to Farkas and he will ask to be cured, take Farkas to the site and cure him. The Dragonborn should now be able to have a follower. Once Farkas is cured, Vilkas should do "Purity" with him without him bugging out.
360 If Farkas is married to the Dragonborn, he no longer gives quests, even though the quest indicator says that one can get work from the Companions.
360 Jorrvaskr may not be able to be exited.
360 (Fix) This can be fixed by disabling autosaves. A black screen appears. Activate the map and move until hearing a click. While the cursor is hovering over a destination tap 'A' twice to fast travel. If the result is a black screen for more than two minutes the fast-travel has failed.
PC Vilkas may not be able to be dismissed as a follower. This is most likely after taking on the "Dragon Seeker" quest with him which cannot be completed because Bonestrewn Crest has already been cleared.
To cure the glitch:
Create a manual save file before proceeding, in case something fails.
This is not necessary, but be outside Jorrvaskr to make sure it is working correctly.
Vilkas must be locked to the Dragonborn, blocking work from the other Companions.
Enter the command resetquest cr14 into the console; this resets the "Dragon Seeker" quest with him; Vilkas will leave and go inside Jorrvaskr and no longer be a follower, but it still will not allow a new follower.
Enter the command setstage cr13 200 to complete the "Purity" quest. With Vilkas that is bugged; it is actually active in the background but does not appear in the 'Complete' or 'Incomplete' quest lists.
One will now be allowed to seek jobs from other Companion members.
Immediately go find Farkas inside Jorrvaskr.
Ask him for work. He may do one of two things:
Whine about never seeing a dragon and give his "Dragon Seeker" quest.
