Electrope (エレクトロープ, Erekutorōpu?) is a mineral in Final Fantasy XIV, introduced in Dawntrail.
Overview[]
Electrope is a black ore that was discovered in the ninth reflection of the Source. It has a unique property of being able to absorb lightning aether in vast quantites. If electrope is imbued with arcanima, it can also transform lightning into other elements, most notably into water, fire, wind and ice.
Electrope can also be used as a storage for souls and distributed among people through soul regulators, also powered by electrope. With these regulators, a person who gets killed by an accident or in a fight can be revived as long as the regulator has soul cells to be used. But it cannot prevent death from old age.
Before the events of Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail, no known sources of electrope were found in the Source.
History[]
Long ago, the ninth reflection where electrope originated, turned heavily towards lightning in its aetherial aspect. As a result, the world was covered in constant thunderstorms, and life became a struggle to its inhabitants. But then, hope emerged, when electrope was discovered and its properties understood. The people began to utilize electrope in order to absorb lightning and make life easier again. The Milalla, Lalafells that escaped the Fifth Umbral Calamity into the ninth reflection from the Source, studied electrope and when they imbued it with their arcanima, they increased its potential substantially. By imbuing electrope with specific arcane patterns, it could then transform lightning into other elements. With this, life within the ninth reflection took a turn for the better, as lightning turned from an element of destruction into an element of hope.
However, electrope was still scarce. When the need for it began to grow throughout the world, people began to wage war over it. The most significant war for electrope was waged between the kingdoms of Alexandria and Lindblum. The war eventually culminated, when Lindblum activated a superweapon, that caused a calamity, in which lightning began to run rampant across the world. Most of the world was consumed, but with electrope, Alexandria survived, when it was covered within a barrier, that protected it from lightning storms.
The survivors of Alexandria, most notably an organization called the Preservation, began to construct a massive structure made out of electrope, called Everkeep to continue living. The Preservation also studied electrope further and discovered a way to use it to extract souls of the deceased and store them in soul cells. This way, the Preservation was able to recover the soul of their Queen, Sphene, and bring her back as an Endless, a facsmile of the original Sphene to continue ruling Alexandria for eternity. The top level of the Everkeep was constructed as a living space for these Endless, where they could "live" eternally in happiness. They called it Living Memory.
Inside Everkeep, electrope was used in almost everything, and it became the sole resource they needed for living, since it was able to provide almost everything they needed through its property of transforming lightning into other elements. Transforming lightning into water provided people all the water they needed for consumption and agriculture. Transforming lightning into fire provided heat for living and cooking. Transforming lightning into wind provided vehicles the means to fly. And transforming lightning into ice allowed drinks and other produce to be kept in cold storage, like within vending machines.