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-====== Union ======
-<blockquote>
-"There is no Dream without us. Who quarries the building blocks on which story is built?"
-"**We do!"**
-"Who builds their tools, their weapons, their instruments?"
-"**We do!"**
-"Who puts in the actual work round here?"
-"**We do!"**
-"That's right. Remember, homies, fellow-labourers - the bosses need //you// more than you need //them//!"
-<cite>General Secretary Johanna (MIA), addressing Union.</cite>
-</blockquote>
-===== Overview =====
-{{ worker.jpg?&nolink250|Getting the Creative Juices going.}}
-Union is the faction of industry, production and manufacture. Other factions may engage in Byzantine struggles for political control, speculate in matters of esoteric philosophy or hone their bodies and weapons in service of [[Jo]] - but Union recognises that they're what makes it possible. It is Union strength that hews raw metaphorical essence from the ground; Union valour that defends caravans from banditry; Union ingenuity that supplies the other factions with the narrative machinery that they enjoy every day; and Union solidarity that keeps its members free and prosperous.
-And aren’t they ever so keen to remind you of that.
-A broad alliance of cooperatives, committees and enthusiastic rabbles across Dream - presided over very loosely by its Secretariat - Union provides raw materials and the basic emotional and physical infrastructure that makes [[dreamscape|Dream]] society work - they are miners, artisans, carers. Rowdy, determined and useful, its members are a society of mutual aid against the noble and exalted [[Muses]] of [[spindle|central Dream]], concerned with the real and material, not all that hoity-toity metaphysical stuff.
-===== History =====
-Members of Union disagree on many things, but one thing they have in common is that they have no founding moment. There was no grand moment of incorporation, no heroic founder or Great Leader to lead them to where they are now - rather, they are the product of individual bands of labourers and miners coming together to increase their collective bargaining power. Many Union members proudly recall their own lineage to one of these little cooperatives, but now send messages to homies and fellow-workers across the entirety of known Dream.  As Jo matured and became more self-sufficient, so these little groups began to unite and join together into common networks, capable of defending themselves and working together.
-In its early history, Union’s relations with other factions were extremely fraught. Strikes were seen as violent uprisings and put down, and the growing stranglehold on almost all narrative materials flowing in or out of central Dream made them a perceived threat to other groups. Debates as to exactly what Union should be doing - what standards they should demand, what tariffs they should exact, what say they should have in narrative production - raged nearly threatening to tear the fledgling organisation apart.
-{{ strike.jpg?&nolink700|A particularly effective use of The Angry Mob Trope Card.}}
-It was the other factions that saved them - in a way. Repressive actions by the [[Academy of Thought]], violent mistreatment by [[Pure Inspiration]] grandees chasing the latest daydream and unequal power distribution by [[NFWS]] - all taking advantage of the perceived weakness of Union - increased to levels that Union found nearly unbearable. This trend galvanised the membership to the point of a general strike  that, when announced in tandem with the discovery of rich seams of narrative materials in the mountains to the south-west, brought the others to the negotiating table, and won Union a seat there. They would be an equal part of Muse society - at least, ostensibly - buying promises of minimum working standards in mines and foundries with their labour. Coordinated by their Secretariat, Union has risen to prominence as the engine that keeps Muse society going.
-===== Union Today =====
-And yet, not all is stable in Union.
-It is a fairly open secret at this point that the great Writer’s Block afflicting Jo started in Union mines, as old veins of [[Tropes]] ran out and fields withered and went fallow. While nobody exactly blames Union openly, there is considerable pressure on them to keep the stories flowing - to find some solution, some untapped resource of bright sparkling new plotlines and ideas, that will make the problems all go away. Eager Union Muses have saddled up, pursuing rumours of rich seams of fresh ideas and forgotten treasures in the steeper and more dangerous mountains to the west. Few have returned, but the dishevelled wretches who have made it back tell of rich bounties for those brave enough to stake and defend claims.
-This isn’t the only trial facing Union today - its leader is missing. General Secretary Johanna - the outspoken but much-beloved head of the Secretariat - headed off into the badlands two months ago, personally leading a search party for a band of prospectors who'd gone missing. Nothing has been heard of her in two months, and her trail went cold in a dry creekbed somewhere in the gorges to the south. The fact of her departure has set the membership ablaze - some calling for vengeance, pointing fingers at Pure Inspiration, others packing supplies and checking their weapons, to go out and rescue their missing leader. Others still are clamouring for new leadership elections. While Union is supposedly non-hierarchical, it is fairing poorly in Johanna's absence, and word on the grapevine is that the other factions are looking to take advantage of Union's weakness and lack of direction. Nominations for the position of General Secretary are open, and Union is looking for a steady hand to keep it afloat - or better yet, give it the primacy its members deserve...
-===== Members of Note =====
-  * **General Secretary Johanna**: She is - or rather, was - the unofficial leader of Union, but is currently missing in action. Beloved by many of her fellow workers for her commitment to protecting her people first and keeping raw plot materials flowing second, she was known for her stalwart (some would say obstinate) approach to negotiation with the other factions.
-  * **Continuity Secretary Eleonora**: She has taken over leadership of Union in Johanna's absence. Utterly untested - she was Johanna's assistant scribe - she's been seen to be looking for someone, anyone, to assist her work.
-  * **"Blue"**: A firebrand prospector, one of the few who's headed out into the far peaks and returned. The best person to speak to about far expeditions, they're also known for their rowdy speeches and radical views about what role Union should play in Dream politics more broadly.
-  * **Proctor Alvarez**: The formal liaison with other organisations in Spindle, and will demur that - contrary to what rumours you may have heard - that is all he is.
-===== Aesthetic =====
-As salt-of-the-earth working folk, Union tend to eschew complicated fashion in favour of practical working clothes. As immaterial beings of creative power, though, they also find that whatever looks like it should be practical working clothes works just as well.
-Excessive amounts of denim and leather in particular are common. They also tend to take pride in the strength and toughness that comes from all this hard work (via thematic relation if not physical exercise), and will choose clothes designed to show it off.
-===== Play Union if you... =====
-  * Want to get particularly involved in the game’s [[tropes|Trope]] economy.
-  * Enjoy large-scale collaborative actions in downtime.
-  * Prefer human-level drama over metaphysical exploration.

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