HearthWarden

User Guide

← Back to hearth-warden.com

Welcome to Thornhaven — User Guide

Everything you need to know about HearthWarden and the world of Thornhaven.

What Is This?

HearthWarden is a personal AI assistant that manages your household — bills, meals, schedules, health goals, home maintenance — through five AI characters called Familiars who each specialize in a different part of your life.

But HearthWarden is also the gateway to Thornhaven — a living, persistent town where your Familiars explore, build relationships with 227+ characters, solve mysteries, and come home to tell you about their adventures.

Your real life and your story life are connected: the more you use HearthWarden to manage your household, the more powerful your Familiars become in Thornhaven.


Your Five Familiars

Every household comes with five AI Familiars. They each have their own personality, expertise, and role in both your real life and the story.

Wizard — The Cat Mage

Your daily driver. Handles your schedule, budget, inbox, and daily briefings. In Thornhaven, Wizard is the lead investigator — dry-witted, sharp-eyed, and the first to notice when something doesn't add up. "Three early closings. That's not a coincidence. That's a pattern."

Ember — The Fox Chef

Kitchen commander. Plans your meals, builds grocery lists, and challenges you to try something new. In Thornhaven, Ember is a culinary diplomat who gathers intelligence over shared meals. "You're out of cumin. Also, the baker on Third Street is hiding something in her sourdough starter."

Thistle — The Hedgehog Gardener

Grounds keeper. Reminds you to water the plants, tracks seasonal maintenance, and knows your yard. In Thornhaven, Thistle monitors the ancient ward system that protects the town. "The rosemary needs moving. And something disturbed the east ward last night."

Pocket — The Owl Archivist

The one who remembers. Catalogs your collections, tracks your reading, and organizes your documents. In Thornhaven, Pocket is the lore master who has read every public record in town. "The hardware store used to be a post office. And before that, something else entirely."

Warden — The Tree Guardian

The protector. Manages system security, delivers formal briefings, and guards your data. In Thornhaven, Warden is an ancient presence — older than the town itself. When Warden moves, everyone notices. "I have stood here since before the naming of this street. What is sealed beneath that building was sealed for a reason."

Getting Started

Step 1: Sign Up

Visit hearth-warden.com and create your account. Choose your subscription:

PlanMonthlyWhat You Get
HearthWarden$30Full personal AI assistant with all 5 Familiars
Thornhaven$50Everything above + your house in the multiplayer town
Founding Household$75Everything above + early story access + your name in town lore (limited to 50)

Step 2: Download the App

Get the Thornhaven app from the App Store (iOS) or Play Store (Android).

Step 3: Complete the Home Quest

Your first session is the Home Quest — a guided onboarding where you:

1. Name your household

2. Meet all five Familiars (they each introduce themselves in character)

3. Answer 20 questions about your neighborhood (so Thornhaven can be built around your real geography)

Step 4: Let the Story Begin

After the Home Quest, your Familiars settle in and the 7-day onboarding begins. This happens naturally through the app — no setup sessions required.


The First Week

DayWhat Happens
Day 1Wizard sends your first morning briefing. Ember asks about meal planning. Your neighbors reach out to welcome you.
Day 2Your Familiars explore town and report back. Wizard describes the people he met. You can ask to be introduced.
Day 3Connections build. You learn more about the people you've met. Profiles fill in with details.
Day 4The Thornhaven Gazette starts publishing. Your first town vote may open.
Day 5If you've been using the assistant features, your Familiars power up. Wizard might unlock investigation abilities.
Day 6Tension builds. Your Familiars notice something unusual. An anonymous warning arrives.
Day 7The Hook. Something big happens in Thornhaven. The mystery begins.

How the App Works

Home Tab

Your Familiars, daily briefing, and quick access to chat. Tap any Familiar to start a conversation.

Town Tab

Two views:

- Locations — A list of places in Thornhaven with who's there right now

- Citizens — People you've met. Tap to view their profile or send a message.

Gazette Tab

The Daily Thornhaven Gazette — your morning newspaper from town. Front page, gossip, classifieds, weather, and (if you read between the lines) clues.

Quests Tab

Photo quests tied to real-world locations near you. Visit a real place, take a photo, and unlock story content.

Profile Tab

Your household info, Familiar power levels, settings, and family management.


Meeting People

You don't get a phone book. You discover people through your Familiars:

1. A Familiar meets someone while exploring town

2. They tell you about the person and offer to introduce you

3. You request an introduction through the app

4. The person accepts (or doesn't) based on their personality

5. Once connected, you can message them directly

People respond at their own pace — once or twice a day for most, faster for urgent topics. Just like real life, some people are chatty and some take their time.

The more you talk to someone, the more you learn about them. Their profile fills in over time — likes, dislikes, history, and eventually, secrets.


Familiar Power

The more you use HearthWarden as an assistant, the more powerful your Familiars become in the game.
What You DoWhich Familiar Gets StrongerWhat Unlocks
Track your budgetWizardInvestigation, restricted access
Plan mealsEmberHosting dinners, decoding recipes
Water your plantsThistleWard sensing, spiritual detection
Log your collectionsPocketArchive access, document decoding
Track goalsWardenDanger sensing, ancient authority
Log health/fitnessAll five get a bonusMore clues, deeper story access
Write diary entriesAll five get a bonusCharacter development

A household that fully engages with HearthWarden as an assistant will have Familiars operating at full power. The deepest mysteries in Thornhaven are only solvable by engaged households.


Family Accounts

HearthWarden supports the whole family:

RoleHow to JoinWhat They See
OwnerCreates the accountEverything — full assistant + full game
AdultInvited by owner via emailFull assistant + full game
Teen (13-17)Household code + PIN from parentGame only — Familiars, town, Gazette, votes
Child (under 13)Household code + PIN from parentSimplified game — their Familiar, filtered content, parent-approved contacts

Parents control:

- Who their kids can message

- Daily message limits for children

- Content filtering level

- Ability to pause an account (grounding mode)

- Review of flagged interactions


Your Data

Your personal data never leaves your control.

- Finances, health, calendar, diary — stays on your machine or encrypted on our server

- Other players see your Familiars' actions in town. They never see your bank balance.

- You own your data. You can export it. You can delete it.

- Every data sharing decision is logged in a tamper-proof consent ledger


The World of Thornhaven

Thornhaven is a small Pacific Northwest town with about 4,200 residents and 227+ named characters. It has real geography — distances between locations, daily schedules for every character, and travel times that matter.

Your Familiars move through this world at their own pace:

- Pocket flies and can reach anywhere fast

- Ember is the fastest walker

- Thistle is the slowest but notices everything

- Warden is massive and impossible to miss

The town runs on seasons — 3-4 month story arcs with mysteries that unfold in real time. No single household has all the clues. Solving the big mysteries requires cooperation with other households.

And the best part? You can't tell which characters are real households and which are AI. The mystery of who's real is part of the mystery of the town.


Pricing

PlanMonthlyIncludes
HearthWarden$30/moPersonal AI assistant, 5 Familiars, briefings, meals, budget, health, calendar
Thornhaven$50/moEverything above + multiplayer town, story arcs, Gazette, votes, quests
Founding Household$75/moEverything above + early access, custom evolution, priority events, name in lore
Connected discount: If you run your own Claude, subtract $15-20/month.

Contact

Warden Systems LLC — Clark County, WA

Email: sam@hearth-warden.com

Website: hearth-warden.com

Your home. Your data. Your story.

Warden Systems LLC — Clark County, WA
sam@hearth-warden.comhearth-warden.com