Hendrik Gustaffson

So many people during my travels have asked me, why I always continue on traveling. Why do I never stay? Do I no love the place I stayed the past weeks enough to call it a home?

My answer is always the same: "Of course I love this place! But I love every place in this great nation. I want to call "everywhere" my home! But since I cannot do that, I will do the next best thing and keep on traveling

— Hendrik Gustaffson
The Path of Ores
Memories of my travels through Caramiza

Hendrik Gustaffson was a well-known author and traveler, who during his lifetime tried to visit every settlement within Caramiza. While there is a discussion about him having actually achieved that goal in its entirety, his memoir and travel guide is a well-sold book all over the nation. Gustaffson is attributed to have initiated the trend of traveling during vacation for the general citizens. Gustaffson was born the second son of a smith and of the fifth daughter of a local noble family. Influenced by his mother, Gustaffon learned early to read and to write, discovering a passion for journaling the ravels he undertook with his mother across the lands of her family. His father was encouraging of that past-time while insisting on Hendrik being at least adept in metalworking. In young years, Gustaffson tragically lost both his parents and he decided soon after to go on travels. The journals he kept of these travels along the Fenoria Stream were read by a moderately successful publisher who proposed printing the first edition of "Valleys of the Fenoria Stream". Gustaffson continued his travels, now with the intent of visiting every place in Caramiza, and only later learned of the success his first book was having.

Avoiding travel by water

Hendrik Gustaffson avoided travel by water as much as possible. While he would enjoy travelling along a river or the coasts, he almost never used a boat or ferry and preferred bridges to cross any body of water. Both his parents died in a quick flood event at the Gamian Coast. As their young son watched them drown helplessly, this event certainly scarred him for life. Gustaffson himself would simply claim that he prefers to have hard ground under his feet and the swaying of a boat simply makes him nauseous. According to his own accounts, Gustaffson was an adept swimmer. His only significant travel by sea was at the end of his life to reach the island of Freora in 1686, one of the last places belonging to Caramiza he had yet to visit. Reports prove Gustaffson arrived safely on the island, but when his vessel he took for the return trip arrived back at Walkust, he was no longer on board. Accounts disagree if he ever went on board in the first place and no trace of him was reported on Freora. After five years he was officially proclaimed dead.