En Yârensynen: The Járind Stones of Chélemby

En Yârensynen al Chélemby
The Járind Stones of Chélemby

The Yârensynen (or Járind Stones), which stood in what is now the north bailey of Ânstrad Kîkè (Parliament Castle), were a three-ring henge. It was the first structure known to have stood on the site of the City of Chélemby.

The site was contemporary with several other (now lost or subterranean) structural formations scattered about the City. The name Yârensynen post-dates the Yârynè period, and may date from as late as the eighth century BT. Some scholars have speculated that the site was of pre-Járind origin and that it was the presence of the Yârensynen that first attracted Járind settlers to Chélemby. If this were true, then the stones would be well over 2,000 years old.

It is still recalled that, through the Yârynè period, the site was used for religious or arcane ceremonies and was controlled by a secretive, cloistered order of ‘monks’. The mysteries surrounding the order have kept even their object(s) of worship in considerable doubt. They themselves have been called by many names, and it is even possible that there were different organisations in place, but the most common name was Sêrisis Viánys (Serpent Brotherhood).

Sometimes the Yârensynen were called the Sêrisis Sýnen (Serpent Stones).

Stories surrounding the stones are vague, fragmentary and often contradictory. Here are some attempts to explain the stones:

• The stones were some kind of Earthmaster portal and may have been used to bring various creatures to Kèthîra..
• Together, the stones formed a mighty (Earthmaster or Airmaster?) machine, most likely a weapon..
• The stones were placed to mark where a divine chariot fell from the sky..
• Yârensynen formed a nexus that led to another world wherein dwelt a great serpent who demanded human sacrifice. The stones were broken up to seal the opening and stop the sacrifices..
• The stones were the bones (tombstones?) of defeated Pradeyálkri. This is sometimes combined with the otherworldly serpent hypothesis..

The stones have been ascribed with various attributes.

• Each stone possessed some kind of special power (possibly luck). This is one reason why they were eventually broken up and used for foundation stones by locals needing more luck..
• The Stones were used to study the passage of the stars in the sky and possibly to predict the future. One tale suggests that they were broken up because they foretold the sack of Vúldenâr. Of course, no one is sure exactly when Yârensynen was finally broken..
• Combining the stones in different ways produces different effects, some of them very powerful and dangerous. Putting them all together might open a portal or cause some other great disaster. There is a prophecy that this will happen..
• When the henge was ‘broken’ the Sêrisis Viánys were not killed, but were scattered to the ‘four winds’. They have been ‘out there’ all these years, but mean one day to return and do something horrible or wonderful.
  Lately there are increasing rumours that the Sêrisis Viánys, who may or may not (now) be followers of Ilvîr, are once more gathering in Chélemby.

If they plan to gather up the stones of the Yârensynen, it will be quite a task finding them all, but it may be possible to achieve a dramatic effect with just some of them. (Or maybe they plan to dig something up.) In any event, if they are here, they know (or think they know) something interesting that has been lost to the rest of the world for many, many years.

N. Robin Crossby