"The Broken Archons tried to steal tomorrow while the Princes slept,“ Corr told her as the ancient rail car clacked and shuddered through the dark. ”They wanted to study it, take it apart, understand its configuration and find a way to re-splice themselves back into the base code of reality. “It was the Metro Gnome who sounded the alarm. His sensitivity to the vectors and patterns of the world keyed him in as the first hints of temporal dissonance radiated out from their efforts. He threw open a channel to every king, count, and majordomo connected by him, and his shriek of pained confusion brought the Archons down almost before they'd breached the Linear Escarpment."

"So, what happened to them?" Maggie asked.

"They were rounded up, neutered to destroy any remaining access they had to the creative force, and stuck into the deep holes of the world to be forgotten. Their names have been marked anathema into the Quiddity Sphere, and I honestly don't think even they remember them anymore."