The Dark Heart of Blackhall The Dark Heart of Blackhall is a " Fallout 3 " quest that is added to the game with the " Point Lookout " add - on . The player is tasked with finding Obadiah Blackhall ' s book , the Krivbeknih , which was stolen from him by some swampfolk . Detailed walkthrough . Enter Blackhall Manor , where Obadiah tells you that the book he wants back is to the east , at the ritual site . Upon leaving Obadiah ' s home , the player is met by Marcella , a missionary spreading her faith across the wastes . She claims that Obadiah actually wants the book for more than just keepsakes , and plans to use it for a ritual to control the swampfolk , and under no circumstances should it be returned to him . She requests that upon finding the book , you give it to her instead , at the disaster relief outpost , in the western half of Point Lookout . However , to make either decision , you first have to find the Krivbeknih . Head to the ritual site and look out for the swampfolk guarding the entrance to the area . Look for a small door in the ground amongst the charred remains of a building and head in . Find your way through the chambers to the bottom of the ritual area . Here you will see a mutilated body with a ritual knife thrust into its head , lying on top of a large table . Directly behind the table is a pedestal with the book inside . You have the choice to leave it alone , or remove it from the chamber . Upon taking the book , swampfolk reinforcements will begin to pour into the area , furious with your actions . You are very likely to be ambushed by additional swampfolk the moment you leave the basement , so be sure to save or heal up before venturing back to the surface . From here you can return the book to Obadiah or bring it to Marcella . If you take it to Marcella at the disaster relief outpost , you will find that she was killed in her tent . However , she left a holotape for you ; Obadiah apparently hired smugglers to kill her ( if he is questioned about this , in one conversation path , he denies it , and in the other , he apologizes for his " indiscretion " ) . In addition , " Die thief " is written in blood on the side of the tent , hinting that she was believed to have the book . Listening to the holotape , she begs you to destroy the Krivbeknih . If you wish to do so , you have to venture to the Virulent Underchambers in the Dunwich Building , back in the Capital Wasteland . You need to access the part where there are metallic corridors near the end of the underchambers , and then ignore the exit stairs . Enter the lowest level into the tunnels beneath . You will find Jaime worshipping the obelisk . After finding the obelisk in the Dunwich Building you can activate it and the book will ignite in flames ( and also incinerate the nearby feral ghoul s ) . You will be awarded with good Karma . If you take the book to Obadiah , he ' ll reward you with 1000 caps . Nothing else changes - he will still go to the basement and pray , whether or not you destroyed the book . Alternate plot ( cut ) . At some point during development the plot of this quest was dramatically different . Rather than asking you to seek the book directly , Obadiah would instead request that you deliver a letter to Marcella . This letter in turn is revealed to be a plea for help from Obadiah , who Marcella describes as " a good man , but his family has an evil past . " Marcella explains to the Lone Wanderer that the Krivbeknih was a Blackhall family heirloom with a dark past , the origin of " the heathen Krivbi ritualists " ( presumably a group of swampfolk , though not specified ) , and one Obadiah had hoped to have gotten rid of for good . Marcella states she has separate knowledge that the book , stolen years ago without the knowledge of the Krivbi , has somehow made its way back to Point Lookout in the hands of the Krivbi , who now hold the book . At this point the Lone Wanderer would be tasked with obtaining the Krivbeknih from the ritual site , the location given by Marcella . After obtaining the book , Marcella would be found dead . However , dialogue with Obadiah later would indicate that it was Krivbi who had murdered her . Blackhall reacts with shock at both Marcella ' s death as well as the presence of the book , which he had assumed was long gone after it was stolen years ago . His reaction to the latter is more severe , as he then explains that it his obligation to destroy it as " the last Blackhall . " The only way he knows to do so requires a sacrifice , namely Obadiah himself , especially since the Krivbi would almost certainly kill him in order to get the book back . Although he is committed to sacrificing himself in order to be rid of the " family Bane , " if prompted , Obadiah explains that there is one other way he could think of to destroy the book , though it is beyond his abilities . At this point the player would be given the option of accepting the task and taking the Krivbeknih to the Obelisk housed in the Dunwich Building in order to destroy it , or telling Obadiah , " I ' m sorry , I think you have to do this on your own . " Obadiah would agree if the latter choice is selected , and presumably would proceed to execute the ritual and sacrifice himself . Though the associated scripting and objectives for this version of the quest are no longer present in the DLC , a large portion of the dialogue remains , including voice resources for all of Marcella ' s dialogue . It can be accessed in the G . E . C . K . under the quest ID . Reward . If you give The Krivbeknih to Obadiah Blackhall , you ' ll get his reward of 1000 caps and 100 XP for completing the quest . Alternatively , destroying the book with the Obelisk in the Dunwich Building gives you positive Karma ( 500 points ) and the 100 XP . Also , you can give the book to Obadiah , get the caps , then kill him for no Karma loss . Now you can take the book to Dunwich and destroy it , but you ' ll get no Karma nor the XP reward . Alternatively , you can keep the book as a souvenir . It ’ s one of the few unique items in the game that ’ s actually unique in appearance as well as name .