Caspialite

Caspialite, also known as Caspin or Coralite, is the mineral the skylands are founded upon. It’s has a hardness rating of 9 and the highest surface area of any known mineral. It will not retain its buoyant properties once melted, as such, ships made of this mineral must be sculpted from whole pieces AND repaired with whole pieces.

Researchers have studied this mineral in depth over many years but have yet to discover why it is a buoyant mineral. The mineral will only float a handful meters higher than the skyland it is mined from, however making it sink lower is merely a matter of adding weight, as such, vehicles mined from the higher elevated skylands are more prized for their ability to travel more places.

It is rumored that some researchers have made breakthroughs with Caspialite recently allowing for it fit a larger variety of purposes.