Stories of the Final Gateway: The Legend of Moncton the Motionless

Stories of the Final Gateway: The Legend of Moncton the Motionless

In the Seeq of my childhood was a time where living witnesses to the spice wars still lived, there was a legend they liked to speak of, of the mighty warrior known as Moncton the Motionless.

In his own time, he was better known as Moncton the Butcher, not because of his prowess in battle, but because he was a fine chef, among the finest culinary preparers of desert snakes, sand squids, meat beetles, steak spiders, the favorite culinary delight known as land lobsters, and innumerable other edible desert creatures.

Some amount of skill is required to remove the acid reservoirs, Molotov glands, and poison sacs from the various creatures without damaging yourself or tainting the meat.

Moncton was such the master butcher that all who wanted to learn how to prepare desert cuisine wanted to apprentice with.

Moncton was supposedly also an accomplished dancer, and was said to have a fine singing voice, but those are mostly errata possibly for the many musical, operatic, and ballet versions of his life story.

Copies of Monction The Butcher’s Guide to Desert Cuisine is still popular among aficionado’s, and required reading for those who wish to master Desertborn Cuisine. One of our seeq’s treasured heirlooms is a first edition copy.

Legends say that he taught his apprentices more than just how to properly peel the skin from a constrictor, he taught them greater mysteries.

"Do not just do something, stand there."

Words he would say often, but whose meaning was lost to those who were not introduced to the esoteric ways of Moncton the Motionless.

Before the Spice Wars, the Desertborn were not always on a perpetual war footing, expecting invasions at any time. Most were content to live in our humble corner of paradise and live out the grace and wisdom thru exploring the many paths of the Tau thru the rigours of the Maker’s Forge.

Moncton the Butcher was one such humble man of the Tau Paths, but times change as it is wont to do.

The Spice Wars bought unexpected obstacles on Moncton the Butcher’s path of humility and peace.

Moncton the Butcher understood that death was inevitable and that killing to survive was part of the implied Laws of the Sands.

"Death does not have to mean suffering."

As a butcher, Moncton (The Butcher) had nearly unlimited opportunities to observe death, killing, and suffering up close and by his own hands.

"You must die so that others can live, but that does not mean that you should suffer."

Thru innumerable kills, Moncton The Butcher worked out how to kill while minimizing suffering.

The method of killing without suffering differed depending on the species, but the sharp eye and sharp mind of Moncton The Butcher, combined with a range, depth, and scope of killing creatures rivaled by very few, he could figure out the best way to end the creature with minimal suffering.

As with many masters, mere expertise mastery was not enough. Moncton The Butcher was not satisfied with what he had learned.

To surpass his already unsurpassed skill and knowledge, Moncton The Butcher knew he must go on a Heroic Pilgrimage.

As with most Desertborn, Heroic Pilgrimages usually means going into the Open Desert by himself.

There is much conjecture about what exactly transpired during Moncton The Butcher’s Heroic Pilgrimage. There is no record of him telling anyone, or if he did tell anyone, no one shared with the rest of us.

What the legends are clear about is that Moncton The Butcher left the seeq for his Heroic Pilgrimage, but he returned as Moncton The Motionless sometime during the Spice Wars.

The telling of the circumstances of his return vary from version to version, but whatever the particular were, the part that the legends all agree upon is that Moncton the Motionless ended up in a duel.

Who the adversary was varies depending on the source, a servant of one of the sabbatanist great houses, perhaps an Imperial soldier, maybe a mercenary or self styled adventurer of some sort. The stories all agree that it was an outlander and the dialogue was similar to this:

"Draw your weapon and prepare to die, Desert Scum."

Moncton the Motionless did not draw his weapon, he quietly explained, "Inducing or contributing to the fear or aggression is cruel and abusive, thus my blades which are meant for animal slaughter will remain sheathed on the belt at my waist. I will not draw my weapon until it is absolutely necessary."

Frustrated the outlander took on a variety of combative postures to test the resolve of Moncton the Motionless.

Moncton the Motionless could not be made to react, he explained the next lesson, "I shall make no combative postures as they induce or contribute to fear or aggression."

The outlander bellowed a mighty battle cry, and made other offensive postures and feints.

Moncton the Motionless could not be made to flinch, he explained the next lesson, "Defensive postures can induce or contribute to the fear or aggression, and therefore suffering."

Moncton the Motionless continued to do what he became famous for doing: He just stood there and did nothing.

Brandishing his weapon, the outlander screamed at the stoically motionless Moncton (The Motionless), "Intolerable! Defend yourself!"

Moncton the Motionless conceded to move ever so slightly, by nodding his head, "I feel how you find this to be intolerable, but with practice you would find it less so."

Moncton the Motionless explained the next lesson for the onlookers, "I have been successfully defending myself for several minutes now and preserving my honor and personal beliefs while doing so. I believe I have sufficiently demonstrating the initial stage."

"It is now time for the next stage."

Moncton the Motionless explained, albeit slightly faster due to the impatience of the outlander, "I am preparing you for the final pathway. In the fleeting minutes after your body dies, you will experience a profound timelessness. I am hoping these words in some way will help you to reconcile your life during the timeless dreamstate."

"I cannot show you my blade yet as you are not ready and I prefer that you listen, so I will have to tell you in advance. However, in truth, I am speaking more for the benefit of the bystanders who are watching, hoping that they might learn someone of benefit from your example."

"My blades must not have any imperfections on them. Any blemish on the blade even large enough for a hair to fall into, renders the blade unacceptable. My blade is sharpened such that if I were to slice your throat, you would hopefully be dead before your brain could registered pain."

"My blades should not be at less than two times as long as the animal’s neck is wide, so the animal can be slaughtered in a single stroke; but not so long or heavy that the weight of the blade exceeds the weight of the animals head or it can lead to pressing which leads to your unnecessary suffering."

"My blade must not have a point else the point may slip into the wound during slaughter and cause piercing which would lead to your needless suffering."

"My blade must not be serrated, as serrations cause tearing which would lead to your needless suffering."

"My blade must not be heated, as searing would lead to your needless suffering."

"I tell you this, because I want you to know that despite your aggression, I bear you no ill-will. I do not wish you to suffer even in death. I hope in the Final Gateway Dreamstate that you find comfort in that. I hope you will realize in the Final Gateway Dreaming that I was sincere in wishing you no ill-will."

"I will not show you my blade unless you force me to. I respect that you feel forced by your notions of honour and bravery that you must proceed. I will regret forever that I could not dissuade you, but I will not allow you to bring me or these others to harm."

"If you must die so that others can live, but that does not mean that you should suffer."

"Usually, I do not slaughter animals in front of other animals, because it contributes to their needless fear or aggression, and therefore suffering. I do this with you today in front of your witnesses, so that they can learn from your loss and avoid their paths which might lead them to needless suffering. I hope for their sake that your sacrifice will not be for nothing."

The Outlander could wait no longer, deciding that Moncton was making a fool of him, and was all talk and thus an easy kill. The Outlander made a fierce charge, accompanied by some sounds similar to "AHHHHH!!!!!" or "ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!!". Accounts of the specifics vary.

Moncton the Motionless waited until the outlander came to him. He did nothing, he stood there. Moncton kept his breathing level and his muscled loose in readiness; because even taught muscles would belie his intentions or slow his reactions.

At the last moment, Moncton leaned towards his left side looking away from the charging outlander.

Moncton’s right hand pulled back and down on the heavy scabbard as the left hand pulled up, forward and to the left as he leaned.

Moncton, an avid fan of Klingon Ballroom Dancing Competitions, performed a flawless Klingon Tango Giro Turn with a surprise Milagro Boleo back leg drag with sufficient leverage from the arm movements to move Moncton out of the line of charge at the last moment of the charge with enough margin of time for Moncton to bring the blade directly to the base of the skull of the charging outlander, just in case he was the reanimated dead. You can never be too careful.

The momentum of the outlander stalled, Moncton followed with an Andorian Waltz Ballestra and a basic Cardassian box step to be diagonally adjacent in front of the outlander and in the continuation of the motion brought the blade across the throat of the outlander, slicing it from ear to ear severing the jugular vein, carotid artery, esophagus and trachea is one single slicing incision.

The outlander’s charge did not advance even one foot past Moncton's initial position and was unconscious before his neck was completely sliced.

Moncton cleaned and resheathed his blades before gravity let the massive outlander’s body hit the ground.

No one was exactly sure what happened, and no one could recall what Moncton The Motionless’ blade looked like as it happened in a fraction of a second.

Moncton stood on the Outlanders’ sword and disruptor pistol. Then Moncton The Motionless stood …. of course….motionless.

"I mourn your loss, but as victor of this duel, I claim the right of parley, and that as his comrades must listen to me before we continue."

"I sliced thru the soft tissues in the neck without the blade touching the spinal cord, in the course of which four major blood vessels, the two carotid arteries which transport oxygenated blood to the brain the two jugular veins transporting blood back to the heart were severed. The vagus nerve was also cut in this operation."

"My incision did not pull or tear, and was performed in one motion free of any pause. Done correctly, his brain blood pressure dropped fast enough that he lost consciousness before his brain registered any pain."

"I did not pause during the incision, as he would either bleed out or I would have to start to cut again. It can take minutes for an animal to bleed to death, and sometimes the pain signal does not properly travel to the brain causing unconsciousness, thus it can be cruel. Either would be unkind, which would lead to needless suffering. Barbaric. My blade moved across his neck in an uninterrupted motion until the trachea and oesophagus was sufficiently severed to avoid this. There shall be no pausing."

"My blade was across his throat in a single back and forth movement, not by chopping, hacking, or pressing without moving the knife back and forth, that would unkind and cause needless suffering."

"While my motions were swift the blade was drawn over the throat so that the back of the knife is at all times visible. It was not stabbed into the neck, or buried by fur, hide, feathers, the wound itself, or a foreign object such as a scarf or cloak which may cover the blade. That would lead to needless suffering. Barbaric."

"My blade cut only in the proper location, my blade was applied from the large ring in the windpipe to the top of the upper lobe of the lung when it is inflated, and corresponding to the length of the pharynx."

"I did not tear out either the oesophagus or the trachea during the incision, that would lead to needless suffering. That would be barbaric."

"You may see how he did not struggle and made no reaction, he did not suffer. I invite you to take this body back with you and perform what tests you can to verify that he did not suffer."

"I will remain here and mourn your loss. I regret that he insisted to be killed. He did not suffer. I hope during his Final Gateway Dreaming that he found peace and greater understanding."

Moncton the Motionless stopped speaking and continued to stand his ground motionless.

Variants of the story have Moncton the Motionless took on several more challenges that day until there were no more to challenge him. Other variants say a coward shot him in the back. Other variants say that no one challenged him again that day.

What the stories do agree upon is that Moncton the Motionless continued to work as a butcher for the Seeq for many years afterwards, but he taught his apprentices more than just preparation of a fine quality sand squid dinner.

"Do not just do something, stand there."

Thusly, according to legend, the fine and gentle art of Araxi Shechita Batto Iaido Tameshigiri Noto was born.