Lars Philpot
Lars Philpot was a suspected con artist who lived in the early Golden Age and who gained notoriety with his claims of being able to reach Oberth.
Contents
Background
Nothing about Lars' life before his appearance in Arindell is known. Witnesses who met with him estimated his age to be about 40, making him far too young to have fought in the Mage Wars as he claimed. He was also never seen to perform any magic, damaging his claims of being a wizard of some repute.
He arrived by wagon train in Arindell in the spring of 151 A.Y. where he stayed at a series of cheap lodging houses and purportedly skipped out on several bills. He attempted to join the Wizard's Guild of Aren(most likely to lend his claims an air of legitimacy) but was rejected when he refused to pay the initial registration fee and first months dues.
Claims
From the moment he arrived in Arindell, Lar would tell anyone who would listen that he had a way to travel to Oberth, and that the planet contained vast, untold riches. He claimed to be an accomplished Wayshifter and explorer who had traveled to over 1,000 different worlds and knew of hundreds of waystones now lost to other travelers. For a very sizable fee to be paid in advance, he offered to take anyone there, and promised that if they only brought along a few sacks, they'd make enough to pay the costs a hundred times over.
The obvious fallacy of this claim, that if it were that simple he should be the richest man on Aren, was never addressed by Lars.
Death and Possible Proof
Lars carried a satchel with him in which he claimed to hold proof of his visits to Oberth. Much like travel, he would only show this evidence in exchange for a small(but still considered unreasonable) fee, and very few people ever saw the contents. Those who did made little comment other than to say they felt cheated. Lars eked out his living by collecting these fees, scamming free meals and drinks from potential investors, and skipping out on the bills at every lodging house where he stayed.
In late fall of 151 Lars was found dead, the victim of apparent strangulation. His satchel was found empty. Initial speculation claims he was murdered for "the treasure of Oberth" which he carried. A local prostitute was later arrested and found guilty of his murder. She claimed she killed him after he collected on her services but refused to pay. She was later hung for the crime. The contents of the satchel were never found.
However, in Lars' room was found a Waybook dated to roughly B.G.A. 200. The book, which later became known as the Larengian Codex for its association to Mr. Philpot, was confirmed to be genuine. The book was taken into the possession of the Library of Arindell and promptly lost, though an entry for it in the card catlogue survived into the Third Age.
The Largenian Codex
The Larengian Codex is a Waybook or guidebook to the Waystone Network found in the possession of known con-artist and murder victim Lars Philpot. Because the codex was lost so soon after its discovery, very little is known about it. Its last owner, Lars Philpot, claimed to be a Wayshifter but never demonstrated this or any other magical ability.
The codex is a notable example of anthropodermic bibliopegy, with a cover made from human skin. The interior pages were printed on some sort of leaf that was never identified (though fronds from the Great Aspaguin tree are suspected) and had only about 100 pages. The first 70-75 were said to contain standard wayshifter incantations and somatic notations along with a never-before-seen sequence of glyphs believed to be a unique coordinate system. The last 25 pages were filled with notes written with a then-modern quill pen and believed to have been inscribed by Lars himself. According to the mages who had a chance to examine the notes, they were said to be "largely nonsensical bordering on completely farcical" and "looked to have been written in quite a hurry all in one sitting". The book was dated to around 200 B.G.A. and confirmed to be a genuine Waybook, although no wayshifter was given the chance to decipher the runes.
The book was taken into the possession of the Library of Arindell and almost immediately lost. Though some believe it was stolen, the most likely explanation is it was mis-categorized and later moved to The Stacks.
Theories
Though Lars was not a mage, he did demonstrate a strong working knowledge of Wayshifting. Further, the Largenian Codex, even if not authored by him, was confirmed to be genuine. Some have suggested that Lars was the son of a wayshifter, never learned magic himself, and attempted to use the book as proof in his scam. However, several witnesses to the original event stated what they saw in the satchel was NOT a waybook.
Book Price
It has been noted that Lars' waybook was worth a very considerable sum. Further, as he wrote in it, it must not have had much sentimental value to him. While not worth enough to retire on, Lars could have sold it for enough to set himself up in a real buisness. He also clearly knew enough about wayshifting to determine the book's legitimacy.
Why, then, he chose to use it as a prop in a scam remains a mystery.
On The Curious(ly Short) Life of Lars Philpot
Two years after his death, a local author in Arindell wrote a book about Lars. In keeping with the classic On Subject genre, he entitled it "On The Curious(ly Short) Life of Lars Philpot". The book was itself only about 100 pages, and served as the primary source for information on the life an times of Lars in the decades ad centuries after his death.
