I have the following question:
Does a dismissed Hero return to the tavern with nothing, i.e., without any experience or artifacts?
Sincerely,
Prorock.
That's how it should work! This prevents players from dismissing a Hero with a desired artifact and then recruiting them again from the tavern. Such actions were already prohibited by the rules! If desired, you can use the tactic of escaping from neutral creatures or explore the new TE options described in the manual.