Duncan Hughes leader of the NSA
The North Sea Alliance or NSA is a faction introduced in Rising Tide. They can start their civilization in the water. This expedition sponsor is led by Duncan Hughes. The Alliance is based around the region of Northern Europe including the islands of Britain, Ireland and the present-day Nordic region, which includes the island of Iceland and the peninsulae of Scandinvia and Jutland and the Netherlands and the small islands in the proximity of the two peninsulae.
The North Sea Alliance is one of two civilizations introduced in Rising Tide that by default can build their first city in the sea.
Civilopedia entry[]
The British Isles and Scandinavia were largely unaffected by the devastation of the Great Mistake and its subsequent migrations, being too remote from the epicenters of those events to be viable targets. However, these low-lying nations were especially susceptible to the rising sea levels caused by the accelerating climate change. Traditionally coastal and maritime economies, Great Britain and the Nordic States faced the prospect of the total eradication of their way of life.
Unwilling to accept this fate quietly, these powers set about finding a way to save their coastlines and countryside from the flood. Drawing on their common heritage as naval powers and recognizing the need for cooperation at scale, the North Sea nations formed a groundbreaking partnership dedicated to territorial preservation and the development of co-aquatic habitation and agriculture. As the world settled into its post-Mistake dark age, the new North Sea Alliance was hard at work on massive infrastructure projects in an effort to save their shrinking homelands. London and Copenhagen were reshaped from the waterline up, re-established on elaborate networks of dykes, culverts, and canals; new heavy industries were developed to build and maintain hybrid land-water habitats; and the Scandinavian fjords were dredged and fitted with locks to form massive natural drydocks for the construction of huge, semi-mobile aquatic city platforms. Colloquially called the "ARKs," the microecology, aquaculture, and autonomous power production technologies developed to sustain these floating cities were some of the earliest and most visionary artificial environment technologies ever seen, and formed the basis for many new technologies employed in first colony ships to equip them for long-term establishment on foreign planets.
When the world awakened from the dark age and the Seeding began in earnest, the North Sea Alliance found themselves behind the curve: all their economic and domestic momentum was focused on sustaining terrestrial life, not leaving it behind. However, the Alliance wasted no time in shifting that emphasis to joining the race to find a new world. Leveraging their autonomous habitation technologies in a series of shrewd partnerships and resource deals, the Alliance managed to ramp up surprisingly quickly – and they did so with one special tactical play based on their unique advantage: their colony ships would be designed to make a water landing, transforming into an ARK-city and giving the fledgling North Sea colony a unique territorial edge in establishing itself in competition with its new neighbors. Though this added sophistication meant they were among the last to launch a colony ship, by the time the Seeding waned they had commissioned more than enough to count among the major colonization sponsors.
Character Trait[]
| Level | Bonus |
|---|---|
| Level 1 | Aquatic cities have 50% more  Strength and cost 50% less to move.
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| Level 2 | Aquatic cities have 60% more Strength and cost 60% less to move.
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| Level 3 | Aquatic cities have 75% more Strength and cost 75% less to move.
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List of Cities[]
| Order | City Name | Language | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 (Capital) | Deepcastle | English | ||
| 2 | Eilemuir | Irish | "Other Sea" | More accurately Muireile. |
| 3 | Fjarran | Swedish | "Far/Remote" | Correctly spelled fjärran. |
| 4 | Dunkyle | Scots Gaelic | "Kyle's Fort" | A Dun ("Fort") is a certain type of ancient hill-fort or roundhouse. Kyle is a Scottish masculine name via Gaelic Caol ("Narrows/Strait"). "Dunkyle" also came from Duncan Kyle, a British science fiction writer. |
| 5 | Vanfald | Danish | "Waterfall" | Correctly written Vandfald. |
| 6 | Wideway | English | ||
| 7 | Sìorraidh | Scots Gaelic | "Eternal" | |
| 8 | Gryten | Norwegian | "Cauldron" | |
| 9 | Oceanham | English | From Ocean and Old English Hām ("Home"). | |
| 10 | Örlög | Icelandic | "Fate/Destiny" | |
| 11 | Helgedom | Swedish | "Shrine" | |
| 12 | Ståndaktig | Swedish | "Steadfast" | |
| 13 | Kestävyys | Finnish | "Endurance" | |
| 14 | Bredt Øye | Norwegian | "Wide Eye" | |
| 15 | Klog Hjerte | Danish | "Smart Heart" | Correctly written Klogt Hjerte. |
| 16 | Himinn | Icelandic | "Sky" | |
| 17 | Duncankeld | Old Norse | "Duncan's Kettle" | Duncan is a Scottish and English masculine name via Gaelic Donnchadh, from Donn ("Brown/Dark") and Cath ("Warrior"). |
| 18 | Bànclagh | Scots Gaelic | "White Rock" | More accurately Claghbhàn. |
| 19 | Sàmchair | Scots Gaelic | "Silence/Tranquility" |
Affinity gallery[]
Duncan Hughes in mid-game Level 6 Harmony (left), Purity (middle) and Supremacy (right)
Duncan Hughes in late-game Level 11 Harmony (left), Purity (middle) and Supremacy (right)