Cliff Hannan

People often ask me if my characters are based on real people, but I don’t think anyone has asked me if the towns and cities in The Hive Codex are based on real places.

The answer, like so many others, is not really a yes, not exactly a no, but a resounding sort of!

When I started writing, all my attention was focused on telling the story. I had countless plot ideas, lists of names, and galleries bursting with photos of the different characters. But I never paid more than a passing thought to the world beyond the walls of the university and citadel where the twin storylines unfold.  

As I wrote, something was nagging at the back of my mind. I knew something was missing. I needed a location. I had a name: Dammerston, but not a lot else. It was a hazy, generic ‘fantasy’ city, that was characterless and soulless. That is, until I visited a small and almost unheard of Swiss town: Schaffhausen.

And it became my muse! (Check out my Instagram post for more photos!)

Schaffhausen is an almost improbably picturesque medieval town sitting on the Rhine River. It’s almost a fairy tale setting already.

What writer wouldn’t  be inspired by such a place? The buildings, with their elaborately carved oriel windows and multi-hued shingles, seem to huddle together for warmth. Twisting passageways lead to secret squares, or a parade of market stalls surrounding statue-topped fountains, abound throughout the town. An apothecary shop displays a myriad of intriguingly coloured elixirs and potions in its window. However, it was the imposing Munot Fortress that truly captured my imagination.

It sits majestically atop the hill at the very heart of the town; like a crown on the head of a King, and surveys everything around it. Instead of a moat, rows of grape-laden vines skirt the fortification and add to its charm.

These elements, and hundreds more, really brought my world to life and can be found woven amongst the pages of The Hive Codex.

Like Rome, Dammerston wasn’t built in a day. It was built in the hundreds of edits and rewrites.  But it was the fateful visit to Schaffhausen in 2023 that was the most fundamental in bringing Dammerston to life and turning it into a character in its own right!

So in answer to the question, where is The Hive Codex set? you won’t find the answer in the streets of Schaffhausen, but it’s a very good place to start!