Locals whisper that the Hearth was built on the site of a boundary marker between the town and a marsh said to be haunted by a 'watcher.' The watcher is blamed for misfortune and for the strange, low mutterings some patrons hear when the fire crackles. Old-timers claim the original crest of the town—lost when the lord disappeared—was hidden beneath a flagstone in the cellar. Recovering it is said to restore the town's reputation, though many who seek it meet with accidents or sudden debts. In Pathfinder circles, rumors tie the mark burned on patrons' palms to a minor infernal sigil once used by a Chelish cult; whether the symbol is a superstition or a step toward something darker is a conversation that never quite ends before the next mug is raised.