Skyrim:Purity of Revenge

Retrieve the Fragments of Wuuthrad and wipe out the Silver Hand. Quest Giver: Vilkas Location(s): Jorrvaskr, Driftshade Refuge Prerequisite Quest: Blood's Honor Next Quest: Glory of the Dead Reward: None ID: C05

Farkas and Njada with Kodlak's body

Quick Walkthrough

1. With Vilkas as a shield brother, infiltrate the Silver Hand's refuge.
2. Retrieve the Fragments of Wuuthrad.
3. (Optional) Wipe out the Silver Hand.
4. Return to Jorrvaskr.

Detailed Walkthrough

Revenge Served Cold

After the death of Kodlak Whitemane, Vilkas is obviously looking for revenge. With no questions asked, he will then act as your follower all the way to the Silver Hand hide-out at Driftshade Refuge, a small fort southeast of Dawnstar. Upon arrival, dispose of the three Silver Hand members guarding the exterior, then head inside.

Den of the Silver Hand

Not surprisingly, Driftshade Refuge is crawling with hostile Silver Hand members, so take advantage of your follower and kill the opposition one by one. In the two-leveled room with many boxes on the floor, make sure to search for An Explorer's Guide to Skyrim which will add a few map markers for later exploration. It is located on a bookshelf beneath an elk head that's mounted on the wall. The tunnel north of the room contains a locked door, so unlock it and wipe out yet another Silver Hand. In the next room, a set of spears blocks the entrance but the corresponding lever is easily located right next to the spears. Proceed forward and enter Driftshade Cellar.

After the first turn, make sure to loot the hidden treasure chest, then follow the path and make use of the Spike Wall trap to dispose of yet another enemy. Ignore the locked cell with the dead werewolf, activate the trap again and run to the area behind it for another treasure chest. Hit the pullbar on the wall to get back out, and head forward to another room with two enemies and, hidden on a shelf, the Light Armor skill book The Rear Guard. The cellar now turns into a snowy cave, and the next room is in two levels, with a Silver Hand sniper on the above ledge. Kill him and examine the cages, one of them holds a living werewolf, who will attack you if you pick the lock, the other one contains a dead horse.

The Fragments of Wuuthrad

After passing through a torture chamber, the next large chamber contains more enemies, with a Apothecary satchel, coin purse, and two potions on a bookshelf behind the fireplace. Take the only available path, leading back to an initially inaccessible part of Driftshade Refuge. The first chamber contains the three remaining members of the Silver Hand, the One-handed skill book 2920, Morning Star, v1, the Block skill book Warrior a treasure chest with considerable loot and finally, the stolen Fragments of Wuuthrad. Use the door to the south for an easy escape route, then return to Jorrvaskr. As soon as you arrive, Vilkas will inform you that you should meet up at the Skyforge and pay your respects to the deceased, but now avenged, Whitemane. This will end the quest and start the next one, Glory of the Dead.

Bugs

• This quest commonly conflicts with the Helm of Winterhold quest, as it is one of the locations to which the Jarl of Winterhold might send you. If you already have the Helm quest for Driftshade then the quest cannot be started. Complete the Helm quest and then follow the steps below.
• If Driftshade Refuge has already been cleared, this quest cannot be started normally without a workaround. Before you begin Blood's Honor, wait 30 in-game days after you have cleared Driftshade Refuge to allow that dungeon to reset (you will have to revert to a slightly earlier save to do this). This should allow Purity of Revenge to begin normally upon completion of Blood's Honor. An easy way to check if the dungeon has been reset is to check the doors--if they have all been shut, it is reset (e.g., if the formerly barred door is barred again).
• There is a chance that waiting the 30 in game days after clearing Driftshade Refuge will NOT correct the glitch. Also, entering Driftshade Refuge before the quest activates may not fix the problem either. If Driftshade Refuge has been cleared prior to completing Blood's Honor, no matter what, there is a chance the quest is forever lost. However, make sure you have followed the above steps to the letter before giving up.
  • The console may aid in fixing this. Click on Vilkas and use the disable and then enable commands, then use setstage c05 0 and talk to him.
• The shortcut to zoom in on the map point will not work for this quest for some people. The map point is nevertheless visible at the location specified in this article.
• Vilkas suffers from the same leveling bug as most Followers in that his stats are set when you first meet him, which in his case is during Take Up Arms. As a result, he is likely to have the skills and health of an extremely low-level character, which may be a problem if dozens of levels have passed since then.
  • Opening the console, selecting him, and entering the command setclass 42dc4 will level him up correctly.

Quest Stages

Purity of Revenge (C05)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
0
1
10		Vilkas has come with me to avenge the death of Kodlak by wiping out the Silver Hand. (Objective is assigned): Retrieve the fragments of Wuuthrad
11		(Objective is assigned): (Optional) Wipe out the Silver Hand
20		Vilkas and I avenged Kodlak's death by bringing ruin to the Silver Hand. (Objective is assigned): Return to Jorrvaskr
200

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in random order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage C05 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest C05.

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