According to the lore for this event, Highforge is charging an exorbitant fee to forge the Dawnstone, so our hero’s, like, “welp, I guess we’ll have to do home invasions in Dragon’s Claw to cover the bill.”
But it turns out that Highforge is an effective source of damage in this event – he’s the primary damage dealer on my event team, enabled by Stonehammer, Ironfall, and a Grudgekeeper-wielding hero* – so all of this actually appears to be an elaborate ploy by Highforge to have us take him on an extended hunting trip.
This has to be the darkest discovery since realising that the hero never leaves the City of Thieves with less gold than when they entered…
*The hero can go as a dragonguard for maximum irony.