Let's talk about human sexuality in Glorantha (so wake the kids and phone the neighbors).
Traditionally, on Earth, this subjects get a lot of attention from magicians and their patrons, but in gaming publications this gets very little exposure. Uleria, the Gloranthan goddess of love, provides the spells of Community, Erotocomatose Lucidity, and Reproduce. I'll ignore the first of these and concentrate, for a moment, on the second one (which I'll call EC from here on out).
EC enhances the quality and duration of the sexual act, which is more than most earthly magic seems to have accomplished; my character Valgrim Bull-Answers-Thrice once got a priestess to cast an hour-long version of the spell that he remembered until the Storm Bull called him home. But magic has also been used to cure (and inflict) impotence and sterility, attract partners for sex and/or marriage, and increase and diminish sex appeal. Uleria's magics should be expanded to reflect this. Imagine the role-playing opportunities when an old woman threatens a player with permanent impotence! And if there are Lust spirits, why shouldn't there be Impotence spirits?
Most Earthly religions have a goddess of childbirth in the pantheon somewhere; in Greek myths, this was Hera and her daughter, Eilythia. In Glorantha, three goddesses associated with this major event are Uleria, Ernalda and Xiola Umbar, yet they are pitifully undersupplied with useful magics.
Uleria, in her aspect as goddess of fertility, gives her priestesses with the spell Reproduce. This ensures that offspring are healthy and abundant, perhaps resulting in multiple births. However, her shrines are generally few and far between, except in some large cities (and Zoria, of course).
Ernalda priestesses must have given birth to a healthy child, yet her priestesses don't even have the Midwife craft. Her spells of Heal Body and Restore Health (STR and CON) are useful in childbirth, but don't really protect the mother and child from injury. Spirit magic spells of Heal, Strength, and Vigor could also help the mother cope with the rigors of her ordeal.
Xiola Umbar is the Troll goddess associated with childbirth. She also lacks a Midwife skill, but her spell of Couvade helps protect the mother during labor. Healing Trance would help save the life of mother or child after birth, should they survive. Protection would not be effective, as it probably wouldn't protect the mother from this kind of damage, and you couldn't cast it on the child until it began to emerge from the birth canal.
However, Earthly magical traditions and popular fantasy novels also include some other types of fertility and childbirth magic. Spells better designed to protect the child from the rigors of childbirth would seem to be a necessity. Of course, sterility and impotence are frequent problems, as mentioned above, but there are many magical rituals designed to foretell the sex of the child. Prospective parents would also want to know other things about their offspring, such as whether they are healthy or sickly, smart or not, etc. Mothers might form a restricted type of mindlink that tells them if their child is sick or injured or even lost, though it wouldn't necessarily tell them what's wrong or where they are.
These are just a few suggestions to beef up one underused aspect of
Glorantha. If anyone else has any comments or suggestions, I'd welcome
them.
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