Basic particles of sound. They come in seven elements, and are an integral part of all matter, living or nonliving. Without them, fonic artes and fontech won't work. In addition, all matter has a fonon frequency, or a specific fonon-induced resonance. No two objects resonate the same way.

I suppose that's one way of putting it, yes.

[Normally, Dist would be sort of irritated at having to explain such basic concepts. None of this information is particularly unknown on Auldrant, but given how his interactions have gone thus far he's starting to accept that he might just not be at home any more.

Besides, it's an excuse to show off his genius! Such opportunities should always be seized.]

A fonist casts artes by opening the fon slots in their body in order to manipulate the fonons inside themselves and in their immediate surroundings. For example, casting an arte with the fifth fonon can cause something to explode. Fontech operates on the same basic principle, except that instead of using your own fon slots, you use the ones in the fon drive that powers the mechanism.

[A brief pause]

...A fon drive is where the power for fontech comes from. It's a specifically designed fon slot that can be manipulated by outside forces. It usually makes use of fonstones, which are essentially crystallized fonons. For obvious reasons, these can be used as catalysts for artes and for mechanical motion.

Not always. I've made self-powering machines before; some are simply drones that go about doing whatever they were initially programmed to do, while others can perform more abstract reasoning to simulate intelligence. In addition, we have uncovered advanced machinery from the Dawn Age, a period of wartime long ago, but thus far reverse-engineering them has proved very difficult.

Not yet, no.

So it seems; I've spoken to a couple. And they operate without a fon drive, apparently? It's fascinating.