Union or Neddy Men? (Possible spoilers)

So, shortly into Wolfstack Docks, I was struck by a conundrum: Which side to pick? On paper, they looked more or less the same: Connections with the masters can be used for some powerful stuff, but it’s rare to find a circumstance that calls for it, while connections with the docks has a wide variety of uses. They both pay the same, with the neddy men paying in glim, then rostygold, and the dock workers paying in rats, then glim. So, it mostly boiled down to which side did I actually approve of?

I’ve always liked helping the downtrodden, and at first glance it appeared that the dock workers were the ones being oppressed. However… as I examined the issue further, my faith began to waver. Apparently the dock workers make strikes like this all the time. And on top of that, they want me to blow up innocent claymen! Finally… while I may not trust the Masters, I believe it’s probably a better idea to be on their good side rather than their bad side. So, I wound up siding with the neddy men.

So, what about you guys? What side did you pick, and why?

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The unions - though I avoided the Clay Men options on conscientious grounds. The dockers’ organisers may be violent, desperate men, but the conditions of labour in Fallen London are appalling and some form of unionisation is necessary for a reasonable, democratic society.

I chose neither, and have noted no ill effects as a result. wink

I also went with the dockers and abstained from blowing up the Clay Men for the same reasons as Fred T-C (who sounds scarily like my personality double).

The only other thing I would say is that, as with most power systems, siding with the powerful can make things easier in the long run and provide opportunities you might not otherwise have. But you alone can decide if it’s a power that you want to support.

Unions all the way! I’m a socialist in real life, and a strong supporter of the lower class, so it was the logical choice for me. Though I did try to abstain from some of the more violent options.

Do keep in mind that siding with the dockers will lock a minor story option for you much later on. I believe there’s a more profitable option you can take, though, so you don’t lose too much.

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My character is not interested in social politics and doesn’t have much of a conscience, he just likes causing trouble. So I went with the neddy men, then betrayed them in the final battle…

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I went with the union, though that was at least partially because I had just seen the play of Billy Elliot.

Solidarity forever, for the union makes us strong! Ahem… yeah. I like that they wrote the story so that there isn’t a clear right and wrong, there’s several different ways you can interpet the situation, either in favor of the Neddy men and in favor of the unions. I enoyed Urthdiggers story bcause it shows you don’t need to come at it from a conservative perspective to side with the Neddy Men, it all depends on how you interpet the situation. That being said, I’m a social-democrat and lean pretty heavily to the left, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I chose to side with the union.

I went with the Needy Men just so I could betray them at the end. My face is a skull mask, a clay skull mask, so they really should have seen it coming. Don’t they frequent this forum?

I tried to side with the dockers initially, but at every turn they just wanted more and violence against innocent parties. When I refused, and tried to persuade them to more reasonable tactics, they booted me out despite the help I had given them. I eventually sided with the neddy men, just to stop the murders and arson carried out by the union organizers. It was clear the Docks workers themselves are just caught up as pawns in a power struggle, and neither side is really to their advantage.

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You wouldn’t have guessed, that this magnamious gentlemen here was in fact working together with the neddy men. Gaining influence with the masters, meeting one, finding out interesting things about them - and finally using said influence and secrets to change London for the better. That was the plan - how foolish I was! Meeting Mr Fires not as an equal individual, but as his puppet, my ideas were turned against me. I became what I ought to have fought. I can’t turn back the time, but I can still do my best in the future. Never will I become a lackey of the masters again. Not with violence will I fight them, but with honesty and by standing up for my ideals.

I sided with the Masters, but for entirely non-ethical reasons.

The Moderators work hard to keep this forum free from the watchful eyes of the Masters, to ensure that this is a place where we can freely discuss Neathy matters without fear of censorship.

The Moderators work hard to keep this forum free from the watchful eyes of the Masters, to ensure that this is a place where we can freely discuss Neathy matters without fear of censorship.[/quote]

I suspect they do this by charging exorbitant prices for information gleaned from these forums; no doubt Abraham’s betrayal increased the value of such information to the Masters. Perhaps now they will pay the fee…

For the Masters!.. But only for the favour it gains me. I care not for the Dock-men nor the Neddy-men but the Neddy-men did let me hit things with Sticks… a lot.

I started with the workers but changed sides when they wanted me to blow up clay men.

Ive noticed a pattern of people leaning towards the union because on first glance, they are the “good guys”, then changing their mind when they realize the unions tactics are rather violent. Y’know, I don’t really like the characerization of unions as violent brutes, but as a story its a really nice one, a good moral conflict where not everything is black and white.

I initially sided with the neddy men, then had a crisis of conscience and switched to the union workers because I thought they were being oppressed. Then they asked me to blow up the clay men, so I returned to the neddy men again and stayed with them all the way. A good and interesting story which I enjoyed.

I play this character as someone who’s interested in currying favor with The Masters. This was also during a more, shall I say, jaded point in his life in the Neath, so he went full Neddy Man. Never burned down any houses, though. Since then he’s worked closely with The Masters, but has toned down the ruthlessness/heartlessness noticeably.