As we're starting a new week, here's the rough map of Lüm with this week's neighborhood marked:

(Once again the only change from last week's map, aside from the movement of the X, is one more neighborhood being labeled. Perhaps this next week I'll make more refinements to the map; we'll see...)

The neighborhood of East Island had its origin when some of the people from the Mills, the area to its west which was then the easternmost part of the city, struck out to found a new community of their own. They moved into the then-undeveloped area east of the Mills and did their best to make it a livable place. They dug canals connected to the river to keep the interior regions well watered and lined them with stone and mortar to keep out the mud of the marsh. They planted flowers, fruits, and vegetables that would thrive in the soggy soil. They planned the streets and structures for æsthetics and walkability. And the community they created wasn't perfect, but it was well designed, well executed, and a lovely place to live.

In fact, it was such a nice place to live that people from other, wealthier neighborhoods wanted to live there. Gradually moneyed people moved into the neighborhood from other parts of the city, buying out its original inhabitants or displacing them through legal shenanigans. Today, this neighborhood that was planned and built by the working class has become one of the wealthiest parts of the city, the home of many of Lüm's rich and powerful. The large mansions and estates that the later arrivals built have ruined some of the city's original walkways and sightlines, but much of its original charm remains, notwithstanding some of its residents' attempts to mold it according to their own desires. A few descendants of the area's original settlers still live there, they and their ancestors having refused to sell out and weathered the legal challenges, but they are finding it everincreasingly difficult to do so, between the high cost of living in modern East Island and the social ostracization they often experience.

It is the canals—some of which have been covered by later building, but many of which remain—that give East Island its name. Surrounded by canals on three sides, and by the river on the fourth, East Island could be said to technically be an island, even if the water separating it from the "mainland" isn't particularly wide—in fact, considering the interior canals, it could as easily be said to be a collection of islands. Some of these canals are wide enough to be usable for boating or swimming; other parts of the canals are separated by underwater bars and stocked with koi or other attractive fish and sea creatures.

The main road that originally passed through the area the new residents arrange to have rerouted to the north, the better to keep their neighborhood quiet and private and avoid the intrusion of too many undesirables. The riverside train line does pass through East Island, but most of its route through the neighborhood is through soundproofed tunnels, the better to keep the noise and the eyesore away from its wealthy residents.

The center of East Island is a historical site, the old Common Hall that was used as a gathering place and a meeting place by the area's original settlers. Now, the hall itself has been repurposed into a sort of a historical museum, and its grounds are a well-maintained garden full of exotic plants. Now referred to as the Millstone Gardens, the Hall and its grounds are a beautiful and restful place that have become something of a tourist destination—and the one place in East Island where the residents grudgingly tolerate the presence of outsiders. Visitors are charged a significant fee to enter the Gardens, but memberships are also available that allow unlimited visits; most East Island residents are of course members of the Gardens.