A strange little scrap of a country, mainly notable as a prime example of a personality state. Dell came into a sort of existence with the Great Rebellion against Astmad which ended in 988. Originally it, like Narkusk, was part of Chatrif. The coastal regions of Chatrif had little in common with the inland ones though, being more Noriscan in inclination, and it was clearly only an alliance of convenience. Dell peeled off earlier, in 1003. A bloody civil war followed but Dell had the backing of Kakranfé. When Astmad launched an opportunistic raid across their eastern border, Chatrif had to give up on the west. Dell was formally given its freedom in 1007.
What followed hasn't generally been glorious. Dell and Chatrif fought various wars of universal pointlessness. Most had little effect, but Chatrif reconqered Dell in 1124 and it needed another foreign patron, this time Christoté, to get them out again. Animosity between the two was the spark which wrecked the Flaugian League in the 1170's – perhaps the only notable contribution which Dell has made to world politics. Relations have gradually improved since, but only so Dell can fight equally pointless wars with Narkusk. Like the rest of the Bay of Disune coast, it has also had to suffer sporadic but cataclysmic invasions from Norisca. It was a particularly destructive one in 1215, which half-demolished the capital Arpel, which led to the rise of the Kallants.
Basse Kallant, the young head of a rich but hitherto unremarkable family, seized power in the wake of the invasion. He threw out the few remaining bands of Noriscans, picked the country back up again and quickly rebuilt Arpel. Generous Christotan loans helped immensely but the charismatic young king was smart enough to claim all the credit. Seven years later his legend was truly born. The Noriscans came again; and this time Basse fought them off. The invaders were actually a fairly small and only semi-official band but it was the first time Dell had successfully resisted a Noriscan attack of any size. Basse did little else of note for the rest of his 22 year reign but his oratory skills and personable ways kept him immensely popular. And after his death, his less charismatic but extremely cunning son Lelle turned him into a cult. He built shrines to Basse across the country, invented a host of stories about his spiritual powers and encouraged people to address their prayers to his shade. By the time of Lelle's own death Basse, and by extension his descendents, was effectively a deity. All subsequent inhabitants of the throne have been seen as semi-divine even while alive. A whole church has grown up around them. Though still nominally Torgun – Dell's former religion – the country prays to the Kallants rather than Torgu. It sees them as a conduit, and almost equal in power, to the great god. Icons and pictures, especially of Basse and Lelle, can be found in almost every home.
What good this actually is to the country, apart from warding off any risk of civil unrest, is debatable. Defendants of the Kallants, even if sceptical of their supernatural powers, claim they have brought a golden age for Dell. They have united, protected and enriched it. But the country has always been fairly solid internally. And the peace of the last forty years has largely been because of external factors; most of all the revolt of the Arglyon which left the Noriscans too busy fighting one another to launch invasions. Likewise the slight increase in prosperity, mainly a knock-on of the boom in western Kakranfé. None of these riches have filtered down to the bottom of society and there's no interest in making them. The last few Kallant kings, notably the current one Emes, have shown worrying signs that they actually believe themselves to be living gods. Basse was loved because he travelled his kingdom and talked to anyone. Emes shuts himself away in his palace, surrounded by riches and fawners. Neither very nice nor very bright, he has done nothing for Dell in seven years and is probably only kept upright by the immense power of his name.
Dell has a few lead mines and a lot of sheep farming inland. Most of its wealth comes from the Bay of Disune, however. A string of settlements runs along the coast, both fishing and trading ports. Of these only the capital Arpel is any sort of size; and, really, it's no size at all. Dell pipes are reasonably famous, a form of large panpipes which make a piercing sound. A local breed of sheep is prized for the softness of its brown wool. Other than that, the only thing most people know about the country is the living gods who rule it.