A Window to the Past

This quest can be obtained after turning in An Unlikely Informant to [npc=198896].

The NPC dialogue that goes along with this quest:

Spoiler

When players speak with Mathias, they receive the interact option: <Tell Shaw you are ready to hear about the history of the Drakefire Amulet.> This prompts a cutscene with the following text:

Master Mathias Shaw says: A few years after the Third War, Marshal Reginald Windsor suspected there was evil in Stormwind.
Master Mathias Shaw says: Where others saw Chaos, he saw Treachery.
Master Mathias Shaw says: In the corrupt dealings of the nobles, and the rise of the Defias Brotherhood.
Master Mathias Shaw says: Through perseverance, he discovered a grand conspiracy,
Master Mathias Shaw says: leading to the hallowed halls of Stormwind Keep itself.
Master Mathias Shaw says: That day, he confronted the most powerful noble in Stormwind, Lady Katrana Prestor.
Master Mathias Shaw says: With her lies exposed, she burst forth, revealing her true form:
Master Mathias Shaw says: Onyxia, daughter of Deathwing.
Master Mathias Shaw says: Windsor laid down his life to free Stormwind, shattering Onyxia's hold on the city.
Master Mathias Shaw says: After she fled, we discovered the cursed amulet she had used to control and persuade so many.
Master Mathias Shaw says: Concerns arose that Onyxia's power may still linger within, and so it was locked away and forgotten...
Master Mathias Shaw says: Until now.

--
--
After players watch a cutscene, they are able to ask Mathias and Vanessa further questions:

Questions for [npc=198896]:

<Ask for more information about the Defias Brotherhood.>

Spoiler

The Defias Brotherhood exists for many reasons, but they would not exist without Onyxia.

The First War saw Stormwind razed to the ground. Edwin VanCleef led the Stonemason's Guild in rebuilding the city. But when they were to be paid, the House of Nobles refused.

It was chaos at the time, but we now know how Onyxia, as Lady Prestor, worked behind the scenes. She convinced the House that the Stonemason's work was poor, and they were being ripped off.

Then she went to the Stonemasons and convinced them that the House of Nobles despised them and would never pay them their due.

( ) <Continue.>

Her magical influence was a subtle thing. Not overt mind control. She could not force someone to do something they did not already want to do, somewhere inside.

Onyxia played both sides against each other so well, a riot erupted in the city. A thrown rock struck Queen Tiffin Wrynn, and took her life. Varian's wife, Anduin's mother. In a world of wars and demons... it was a cruelly simple fate.

King Varian was furious, and banished the Stonemasons from the city. They fled to Westfall, where Onyxia continued to stoke their rage by using her influence to cut off supplies and support to the region.

They became the Defias Brotherhood, and under Edwin VanCleef's reign, they turned to banditry and murder to recover the gold owed to them.

( ) <Ask Shaw how he feels about the Defias Brotherhood.>

It is easy to sympathize with the plight of the Stonemasons Guild.

It is not so easy to overlook the banditry and murders committed by the Defias.

Their goals never justified their methods.

But that does not mean that their goals--to see the Stonemasons paid, to help the people of Westfall--should be forgotten.

King Anduin made strides in addressing those issues, but for many, it will never be enough.

All we can do is keep trying. Forming a working relationship with Vanessa VanCleef herself... that sounds like another step in the right direction.

--
<Ask for more information about Vanessa VanCleef.>

Spoiler

Ah, yes. What is the Stormwind City Spymaster doing having a chat with one of the most notorious criminal leaders known to man, instead of arresting her on sight?

Good question.

Vanessa is not an innocent woman. The Furlbrows, the Deadmines... there is much she should answer for.

But war changes all of us. During the invasion of the Burning Legion, she took up her blades and poisons in defense of Azeroth. I saw her bleed for our world.

( ) <Continue.>

Maybe it's just wishful thinking. Maybe I'm just going soft. Maybe... because I knew her father...

<Shaw sighs.>

Whatever the reason, I believe there is good in her. She cares deeply for the people of Westfall.

And she is not her father. Someday, she might actually listen to reason.

( ) <Ask if Shaw knew Edwin VanCleef.>

<Shaw's jaw tightens.>

Yes, I knew him.

--
<Ask for more information about the Drakefire Amulet.>

Spoiler

We don't know where or how Onyxia first acquired her Dragon's Eye, as the amulet was first called. But while she had it on her person, her words were like honey to all that heard them.

Myself included. I remember a sort of... fog around her. It never occurred to me to question a single thing she said, regardless of my normally cynical nature.

Mind you, our wills were still our own. It was the combination of her cunning and her magic that gave her power. She knew what you wanted to hear... and how to push you in the direction you were already facing.

The amulet could not force anyone to do something they didn't already want to do, somewhere inside.

( ) <Continue.>

When Onyxia was in the height of her power as Lady Prestor, she placed the Dragon's Eye directly on Bolvar Fordragon. That seemed to enthrall him even more deeply than the rest of us.

But then Windsor arrived and, in the confrontation, the amulet was shattered.

Onyxia fled to her lair and locked the door behind her. But the key was within her broken amulet.

The Dragon's Eye was reforged into the Drakefire Amulet. It was used to enter her lair, where she was finally defeated. Afterward, the Drakefire Amulet was returned to Stormwind, where it was kept in safekeeping, lest its power linger.

--

Questions for [npc=198883]:

<Ask for more information about her.>

Spoiler

What, like you don't remember "killing" me in the Deadmines?

Hah, I suppose... what am I to you but another boss of another "evil" organization that needs to be put down?

Nevermind my purpose. Nevermind my PEOPLE. I wanted to help them! The Westfall Sentinels who sent you would merely preserve the status quo!

<Vanessa sighs, and the anger drains out of her.>

It doesn't matter now. I made so many mistakes. I can't say I didn't deserve it.

Then, the Legion invaded. Everything changed.

( ) <Ask about her time fighting the Legion.>

...

...I've seen men do terrible things to one another. I've seen my people starve. I've seen my father killed. I've seen my own revolution fall apart at my feet.

The torture and pain the Legion sought to bring to our world... that was... something else entirely.

I saw many people die in those days. You can't come back from that the same person.

<Vanessa turns her head away and stares into the distance.>

**
This question has a special response for rogues, but the Uncrowned questlines from Legion may be a requirement to receive it.

Spoiler

What, like you don't remember all our wonderful time together?

Hah! Fine, I'll play along.

YOU took MY seat as a Shadow of the Uncrowned, during the Legion Invasion. I challenged you for the position, and... well, I was having an off day. You won. That time. Once.

Whatever.

They decided I should work for- no, that you needed someone actually competent to help do your job. So I stuck around to do the heavy lifting for you.

<Vanessa suddenly pauses, then swallows hard.>

That was a lot of demons.

( ) <Ask about her time fighting the Legion.>

...

...I've seen men do terrible things to one another. I've seen my people starve. I've seen my father killed. I've seen my own revolution fall apart at my feet.

The torture and pain the Legion sought to bring to our world... that was... something else entirely.

I saw many people die in those days. You can't come back from that the same person.

<Vanessa turns her head away and stares into the distance.>

--
<Ask for more information about Shaw.

Spoiler

<Vanessa rolls her eyes.>

The Spymaster for the Crown has some principle, I'll give him that. The fact that he still hasn't arrested me means he can keep his word, at least.

We have an "arrangement". I keep the Defias on a short leash, and he doesn't go after us.

Luckily for him, I'm not that interested in leading my Brotherhood to murder and robbery anymore. If only the bulk of the Defias actually felt the same...

It's getting harder and harder to keep them from hurting innocent people.

--
<Ask for more information about the Defias Brotherhood.>

Spoiler

<Vanessa straightens slightly.>

The Defias Brotherhood are vigilantes fighting for the people of Westfall when no one else will.

At least... we should be. Many would call us bandits. In my father's time... I have to admit it was true. His righteousness turned quickly to vengeance and greed.

But that doesn't mean his anger wasn't justified. As long as there is suffering in Westfall, there will always be Defias. I tried to lead them to be a force for revolution and good. Now, I fear they are too used to the life of the bandit.

--
The next quest in this series is Rotten Old Memories.

If you actually have the Drakefire Amulet from getting attuned to Onyxia's Lair in Vanilla, there appears to be a little variation in the dialogue when Mathias Shaw talks about the necklace:

Master Mathias Shaw says: Through perseverance, he discovered a grand conspiracy.
Master Mathias Shaw says: leading to the hallowed halls of Stormwind Keep itself.
Master Mathias Shaw says: But you know this. You were there.

Master Mathias Shaw says: After she fled, we discovered the cursed amulet she had used to control and persuade so many.
Master Mathias Shaw says: While there were concerns Onyxia's power may still linger within, it remained in your possession...
Master Mathias Shaw says: Until now.

I'll have to see what the cutscene looks like on alts that didn't do the old Drakefire Amulet quest, but in my main's cinematic, Shaw handed the necklace to my toon.

It's funny that when you then talk to Vanessa VanCleef to finish the quest, she would say, "We all have our own versions of the past, don't we?"

First off, it's really neat that the cinematic during this quest changes if you did the Onyxia attunement all those years ago. I remember not knowing a damn thing about what I was getting into, I barely understood english back then.

... My character seemed a lot more confident than I was back then. Also a lot more blinged out in shiny transmogs that fit together, but hey, can't fault Blizzard for not keeping track of the horrible mismatch of gear they were wearing back then.

Anyway, when Shaw said:

Master Mathias Shaw says: After she fled, we discovered the cursed amulet she had used to control and persuade so many.
Master Mathias Shaw says: While there were concerns Onyxia's power may still linger within, it remained in your possession...
Master Mathias Shaw says: Until now.

I actually rushed to my bank. I keep old, once-important stuff around all the time. And you know what? I couldn't find the Drakefire Amulet! I thought for sure Blizzard had removed the item from the game for the sake of immersion...

Then I remembered Void Storage. You know, the thing that became essentially a second bank after Transmogs didn't require you to keep ahold of the items you wanted to transmog? Yeah, I went to that and found the Drakefire Amulet there.
So if Blizzard does remove the amulet from the bank, they don't remove it from void storage.