Delmud and Tinny, huh? There's a pairing I haven't thought of.

Complete accident. I wanted Aless/Nanna and Leaf/Tinny and ended up with Leaf/Nanna, Del/Tinny, and a very dead Aless.

Aless leaving a widow behind?

Nope. I'd kept him away from Leen; I was anticipating Del/Leen, to be honest.

Also, when Hilda shows up, doesn't she also bring along that swarm of Barons?

Yes. They weren't much trouble.

It reminds me of the whole "preserve the bloodline" MO behind certain RL arranged marriages, except with more obvious effects.

Indeed!

Also makes it very obvious when someone's been cheating around, too.