[Melusine]

Actually, the good-evil thing always puzzled me for a bit. A good-aligned character would only have to be slightly gullible/naive to side with Bodhi. It's only later in the game that you find out how evil she is, so it sounds to me like avoiding her in the beginning going ahead on the plot.
Also, it's not as if the Shadow Thieves are such a bunch of goody two shoes... at least Bodhi has an excuse for acting evil...

SPOILER AHEAD:

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I always side with Bodhi. You will have to fight her anyway later in the game, so in terms of XP and items, it's much smarter. You get the XP and items of Aran Linvail c.s. and will get the XP and items for Bodhi and her gang later on anyway.