So first of all, here's the map with the week's neighborhood marked:

(Again, not many changes from last week, just an added spur of the rail line and a couple more neighborhoods named. Just seven neighborhood names to go.)

This week we're looking at Graypool, a middle-class neighborhood in the north center of Lüm. Graypool had its origins in the search for more solid land to build on; while what is now the Old City was built on relatively firm ground at the mouth of the river, it was surrounded by boggy marsh on which it was difficult to build. There were a few small areas of high ground—the areas now occupied by Rosemary Hill and the University of Lüm—but as the city expanded more solid ground was desireable.

There was a patch of solid ground near Lüm, but it was covered in forest that prevented it from being developed. To make space for further expansion, a few hundred years ago the city government authorized part of the forest to be cut down. There are conflicting reports of what happened next, but the story most commonly told is that as developers continued to clear the forest, they encountered increasing resistance for the local fey, but persisted nonetheless. Until one day they came across a strange and magical body of water in the forest they were cutting, of which the fey seemed particularly protective. They continued to clear the forest around the water, but those who cut the trees fell under various terrible curses, until finally it was decided that the cost of expansion in this direction was too high, and the rest of the forest was left alone. That body of water is, of course, the "Gray Pool" that gives the neighborhood its name.

(As it turned out, this wasn't tne end of the deforestation; the area around the Gray Pool may have been left alone after this, but a large swathe of forest was cleared a little to the northeast, apparently with encountering the same difficulties. That area is now the neighborhood of Greenwood.)

While the clearing of that part of the forest was stopped, it had gone on enough to open up a fair space of solid ground to build on, and many people moved to this new area. The residents were mindful of the difficulty that the original developers had allegedly had with the fey, however, and to this day the residents of Graypool show respect to the fey and follow various rituals and practices to placate them and show respect. Many people believe this is a matter of mere superstition, and that the fey aren't as active in Graypool as its older residents believe—but many others, even if they aren't sure, don't want to risk trouble, and there's considerable peer pressure to participate in the observances.

The firmer ground makes it possible to build cellars and other subterranean structures in Graypool that are infeasible in the swamp without magic or extensive draining and reinforcement. Thanks to this, Graypool has become the leading area in L&uum;m for fungiculture and for the brewing of certain alcoholic beverages that are steeped underground. It's also given rise to a local art and craft scene focused on using and portraying natural elements, and a local cuisine that incorporates ingredients harvested (sustainably) from the forest. Perhaps due to the rumored presence of the fey, the population of Graywood has a particularly large proportion of alicunds, though humans still make up the majority.

Aside from the Gray Pool itself, another notable landmark of Graypool is Madcastle, an architecturally bizarre castle that a wealthy early resident of Graypool, Yesterney Dallick, built expecting it would be needed for an all-out battle against the fey. The building now called Madcastle never served any real defensive purpose, and today it is something of a tourist attraction, with exhibits and rides installed in parts of the structure.