Other than living next door to it for the past few months…probably not. 
Chronos, it almost certainly is something from D&D, just not unique to it. Eg, a dragon, or something. (almost certainly not actually a dragon)
He’s living next door to the rift. The Snarl and the rift are two different things. And since the rift has opened, there’s been no sign of the Snarl.
I don’t think that anyone but Roy has been shown carrying Durkon with one hand, and Roy is pretty strong.
I believe in “Start of Darkness” he sees the Snarl and recognizes it in captivity; he advises it that it could easily break away from its captors.
No, that’s the MITD. He’s never seen the Snarl.
Oh. Right. Mistyped, there.
Had Redcloak ever seen the Snarl by that point? It’s hard to say; the act of donning the Crimson Mantle evidently fed his brain with a great amount of information.
Ooookay. Sorry to offend.
The Snarl is still something Rich made up, so no, it’s not a baby Snarl.
Am I the only one who noted O-Chul’s closed eyes in panel ten? It might look like he’s suffering but I pretty much guarantee you that he’s praying. Even with the ‘glowy eyes’ thing from the MitD there’s a possibility that O-Chul was praying to the twelve Gods to rescue this most loyal servant and he got the natural 20 he needed to get some divine intervention.
And, let’s be honest, if any mortal has earned some divine intervention…it’s O-Chul. The man is a walking pillar of faith.
I dunno – I was left vaguely unsatisfied by this comic. Too much of the * deus ex machina * if it was the MITD that did it. But there aren’t too many other possibilities given the Cloister spell. Unless the Cloister spell chose just this moment to expire (it’s about due) and V’s old mentor was able to teleport them away. Or the three fiends decided to break a few rules.
If certain speculations turn out to be true, it’s more like deus ex deum.
I was vaguely unsatisfied too, mainly because I don’t really care much about the MitD (and even less about what it is, unlike apparently every other fan). I’d hoped for O-Chul & V to escape on their own – or better yet, being captured, 'cause I’m a sadist – but I don’t really think it’s d-e-m. Rich pretty much set up the MitD as a possible, even likely, savior back during the Go strip and especially the monster’s "O-Chul!!! cri de coeur panel back when the paladin first escaped. Plus, we know the creature has powers/strength it doesn’t even understand, so the appearance of a new ability doesn’t really come outta nowhere. If a writer sets up something as unpredictable and unknowable, we the audience can expect the unpredictable and unknown arising from it.
As you say, there weren’t too many possibilities, given Xykon’s rush to get back there and destroy them, so there just wasn’t time for them to escape on their own. The IFCC has already stated they can’t interfere. And using V’s old mentor (who’s only been seen in a few rare panels) and having the Cloister just happen to expire at the instant they needed it would seem way more of deusy to me.
It is not deus ex machina if the MitD saved them; that would be a direct result of O-Chul’s prior actions. That is not some outside force resolving the plot; that is the plot.
Ah, true, I suppose: There are some classic mythological creatures that only show up in D&D in obscure books. The phoenix, for instance, has for reasons unknown to me never shown up in a core D&D book, in any edition, but always seems to get added in later. Not that Monster-San is a phoenix, either, of course.
It’s a dragon turtle!
I’m new to the strip, but has anyone opined that the CitD might be . . . the DM? Certainly technically a part of the D&D universe and capable of amazing powers. And, an ever-present presence though not ever seen inside the game.
Spoilers for Start of Darkness…
He has his own crayon drawings of it so I think it’s safe to say that Redcloak knows what it looks like through his connection to the Dark One.
Remember the specific exception for summoning spells. 532 The Exposition Fairy - Giant in the Playground Games
Okay, I’m not waiting any longer. I ordered Start of Darkness.
Never read Start of Darkness, but is it for sure he actually charmed it? He’s pretty naive, did his behavior and action actually change on Charm or is it possible the charm wasn’t that important, and he just did what his new ‘friend’ wanted?