>> If so, our expectations of the probability of sex leading to pregnancy
>> in Glorantha might be too high. Perhaps simply refraining from personal
>> fertility magic might be a moderately effective 'contraceptive'.
>
>In some cultures, perhaps. I doubt the Heortling 'peasants' are quite
>that badly off, though. In Seshnela or Jonatela, maybe.
This is a problem in comparing the RW to Glorantha. Prior to the 20th Century populations expanded to the limit of food resources and then suffered famines. That was with a high mortality rate for both mothers and infants. This is still the case in many parts of the RW.
Published Gloranthan material assumes mortality rates much closer to modern western ones on the assumption that magic provides equivelent benefits to technology. Assuming this correctly reflects Glorantha rather than a desire for a product more acceptable to modern ideas then there isn't the same social pressures on women to bear many children in the hope that some will survive. So there can be many reasons for that lower fertility - some natural, some controlled.
-- Donald Oddy http://www.grove.demon.co.uk/
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