| abstract | - Over 200 years before Agatha's time, the "greatest Spark of the time" created a masterwork for The Storm King, Andronicus Valois: nine incredibly advanced clanks known as The Muses. The Muses had abilities to perform before an audience and create feedback to enhance or alter the audience's collective mood. This Spark's name was Van Rijn, whose full initials were RvR. According to a footnote in the novel Agatha H. and the Clockwork Princess, Van Rijn was mysterious even in his own lifetime, with only the man's own word regarding his supposedly Dutch background. He also went out of his way to avoid having his picture painted, and so (in universe) no image of him exists. (And it's quite a long time before the reader gets even a hypothetical look at him, either.) Image:VanRijnNotebook.png After Van Rijn's death (or at least disappearance, see below), many people wished to study the Muses, but the work was extremely delicate. Since these are Sparks we're talking about, this didn't stop anyone and several of the Muses were tragically destroyed. Only four escaped for certain, and one of those just barely. Another of them, Moxana, either took with her or later acquired a notebook of Van Rijn's; based on Agatha's enthused reaction after being given a chance to read it, it is a treasure-trove of technical information. The notebook has been revealed to contain secret notes only readable when viewed in a light of the same wavelength as the King's Lightning. (Presumably the Storm King), and then even more secrets if an electrical current is passed through the metal trim of its cover. Other Van Rijn works exist, among them an industrial sausage-works, the Storm King's powerfully electrified sword, "Archimedes' Lever" and (evidently) his zappy mace "The Platonic Solid". Agatha's acclaim (having learned from the then-current Van Rijn expert, Dr. Tarsus Beetle), indicates that any other creations would be as nearly magical. If the notebook is be believed, its creator had an appreciation for both jam tarts and waffles. He worked with the Corbettite Monks on their blasphemous-artifact wrangling and storage in the catacombs beneath Paris, which led to his founding the The Incorruptible Republic of the Immortal Library of the Grand Architect on the same site. He was also an artist, creating the massive Triumph of the Storm King, a combination bas relief carving and painting currently on display in the Immortal Library; this installation also serves as a concealed lock/doorway for his personal top-secret Hermitorium. It was in this hidey-hole where he conducted work on his life-long obsession: a study of/series of conversations with The Enigma; or, as he called it, The Muse of Time. It appears he gained much knowledge from these exchanges, possibly explaining the advanced nature of his own Muses.
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