Also Because I Like Him

Question: About two months ago I finally had an opportunity to make a Scion from one of your pantheon supplements when I made a Scion of the Elohim for a new game. Because of that, I did some research into the pantheon and have found myself wondering a bit why you opted to make Yam a god instead of a Titan. Not that I disagree with or dislike the decision (he’s who I ended up using for the Divine Parent, after all) but he often seems to be referred to as a more primeval deity, definitely had a directly a...

Oops! Sorry, friend, it looks like the question box cut you off. It sometimes eats the ends of particularly long questions. I assume that A-phrase that got snipped was some variation on "antagonistic role", but please come correct me if I'm wrong!

I actually did consider making Yam a Titan back when I was first setting up the pantheon, and Mot as well. They're both old and serve as direct antagonists to Baal as the leader of the pantheon, and both have fairly major roles as cosmically powerful overseers of a facet of the universe. I finally decided against it based on strength of personality and their treatment in what Canaanite religion we can still unearth and study, but I can easily see where the question's coming from.

Yam is definitely a temperamental monster of a dude, but one of the reasons I think he fits better as a god than as a Titan is that a lot of his antagonistic rampageyness isn't of his own accord; it's because someone else is pulling his strings, and that someone is his father El. Yam didn't set out to usurp Baal's throne, but was rather told by his father that he was the rightful heir, and further told that Baal was going to try to usurp him. The ensuing epic battle between sky and sea isn't an example of Yam taking up arms against his pantheon; on the contrary, it's an example of him thinking that Baal is the bad guy here and going into defense mode. It's just his unfortunate blunder that Baal is not actually a bad guy and that El specifically told him all of this in the hopes that he'd kill his brother (because El is himself afraid that Baal might try to overthrow him, because, if you didn't know, who's king is about the most important concept anyone in the Canaanite pantheon can conceive of). The major aggressor in this myth is definitely El, not either of the sons he intentionally pits against one another.

Yam also has more of the human touch than most Titans, though of course some of that is subject to interpretation. He didn't enjoy the robustness of Baal's cult - not even close - but he still did have a major group of mortal worshipers who made sacrifices and prayers to him, especially once the Canaanites evolved into the Phoenician empire and started spending a large percentage of their time in boats. He also has direct ties to his pantheon that are not necessarily negative; his mother Asherah appears to support him (though she, like El, has ulterior motives) and their shared sister Astarte prevents Baal from killing him when he's defeated. The battle between the two of them could be construed as a combat between a god and a Titan, but to me it looks more like good old-fashioned god-on-god quarreling, and the fact that Baal turns around and does the same thing a minute later with his other brother Mot suggests that these guys just have a very, very bad case of sibling rivalry.

As for Yam's primeval power, he certainly has that... but so do Baal and Mot, and the three of them are a triumvirate that balances itself out pretty admirably between sky, sea and underworld. You guys of course know that I'm not a fan of comparative mythology where it isn't due, but it's worth noticing that we've seen that triumvirate setup before, and that it's very likely that Zeus, Poseidon and Hades, the same setup of three brothers with three equal kingdoms, owe something to their Levantine cousins across the Mediterranean. The Canaanite pantheon as a whole has a distinctly primeval flavor, which is not surprising considering that they're one of the oldest groups of gods in Scion's landscape, and Yam's mythology doesn't seem to indicate more of that out of him than out of his fellow gods.

Finally, one of the major tests of a Titan: Yam and Mot don't disappear. They get into big fat fights with their brother over who's in charge, but they both survive and continue to be members of the pantheon and figures of worship (or dread, in Mot's case) for their people. Most Titans don't do that, as the gods simply put them down, banish them forever or at the very least stop talking about them as members in good standing.

I could definitely see the appeal of Yam or Mot as Titans, and I wouldn't be surprised if some Storytellers somewhere use them as such; they're old, they're cranky, and they fight the king storm-god, which are all pretty classic signs of possible Titanhood. But I think they have enough connection to their people and pantheon to remain playable, if contentious, members of the official roster of gods, and they furthermore bring different powers and imagery with them that help enrich the pantheon as a whole and make it more interesting for Scion.