The real point though, is that men's social "importance" is way out of line with their "genetic utility" -- all you need a man for is a few millilitres of sperm every year or so, and hence from that point of view they're as near to Redundant as need make very little societal difference. Even without a Sufficiently Advanced Technology, or magic, all one need do is to have a sort of Captive Breeding Programme, or raid some hapless neighbours for their zygotes when one feels the need.
> One would think that in Glorantha there might be a cult/society of
> women who reproduce via magic without the need of men.
Yup, the Trowjangi amazons. Of course, in a sense they are not replacing Man as an mythic/sexual concept, so much as saving themselves for a particularly well-endowed Male Principle diety -- but close enough, for all practical purposes.
[If this were a newspaper letter column, there would be large notice here saying:
But fortunately for the Sandy Petersens of this world, it isn't. ;-) ]
> I remember something about Unicorn riders, but I don't think
> they reproduce in an unusual fashion.
I believe you're right. Of course, if they had a VirginBirth HeroQuest I wouldn't be very shocked [this space for rent for a suitable myth], but aside from the miraculous, they were all conceived by: Usual Method. A high proportion of the riders aren't actually born into the tribe at all of course, but Defect during their lifetimes, saving the Yelornans from some of the need to Do Distasteful Things.
> How horrible would it be if I threw
> such a society onto My Glorantha, and what grotesque errors should I avoid?
I can't immediately convince myself that an all-female society which reproduces by strict parthenogesis, or come to that, "monosexual" reproduction is terribly likely among _humans_, but I'll bet you bytes to bagels that such strangeness occurs in say, certain species of Timinids. Other possibilities that spring to mind would be insect-worshippers of whatever sort, or maybe female-supremacist Pamaltelans. (Or depending how you look at it, maybe just more-female-supremacist-than-usual Pamaltelans.) You've seen the men-and-a-half -- now the women-and-three-quarters! ;-)
Grotesque errors: my nominations would be putting them somewhere startlingly unlikely; making them too large a group to fit comfortably in with the rest of Known Glorantha; and having them be cheap B-movie Clone Arrangers with no mythic raison d'etre.
Good luck,
Alex.
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