MITD Sweet XVI and Never Been Guessed

[Peelee]

• We just saw Redcloak be overconfidently wrong about why there were monsters behind a door with an X on it.
• We have seen Redcloak persistently treat MitD as stupid, and we know better.
• He's wrong about the Gate being behind a door at all - admittedly, Serini set everyone in the world up on that.
• He's wrong about the Gate above Azure City being something the goblins can ignore.
• His deity is in mortal peril (you should pardon the expression) of starvation, and he won't admit it.

That's just a start. Of course, you already mentioned the Plan being unworkable.

• That's correct. That's also about regarding the Plan and his execution of it, which I noted is a blind spot of his.
• We have also seen the MitD be quite stupid. For most of the story, in fact.
• Because he was specifically led to be wrong. Just as the Order was. Just as most readers were. This one is patently unfair and isn't "Redcloak out smarting himself" at all.
• Knowledge on the Gates is severely restricted, and he is going by what he knows. Again, this is unfair and is not "Redcloak out smarting himself" as you previously asserted.
• He has good reason to not believe that as it was a self-serving statement by an enemy offered with absolutely zero evidence to back it up.

Your examples are not as good as you seem to think they are.

[halfeye]

[*]His deity is in mortal peril of starvation, and he won't admit it.

In my opinion this extremely doubtful.

Hel is going to survive, on the current dwarf population and not much else, and the Dark One is going to starve on all the goblinoids ever? There are a lot of minor gods in the Northern Pantheon who are going to survive on a few souls here and there, but the Dark One is going to starve on all the goblinoids? They don't live long, so there are more of them per century than other peoples, there were so many dead hobgoblins at Azure City, it is just not reasonable that the Dark One should starve.

[Peelee]

In my opinion this extremely doubtful.

Hel is going to survive

You sure about that?

[Shining Wrath]

• That's correct. That's also about regarding the Plan and his execution of it, which I noted is a blind spot of his.
• We have also seen the MitD be quite stupid. For most of the story, in fact.
• Because he was specifically led to be wrong. Just as the Order was. Just as most readers were. This one is patently unfair and isn't "Redcloak out smarting himself" at all.
• Knowledge on the Gates is severely restricted, and he is going by what he knows. Again, this is unfair and is not "Redcloak out smarting himself" as you previously asserted.
• He has good reason to not believe that as it was a self-serving statement by an enemy offered with absolutely zero evidence to back it up.

Your examples are not as good as you seem to think they are.

Fair enough, but they are also what I can come up with off the top of my head.
Also:
MitD is NOT stupid, just childlike.
A massive glowing rift in the sky that occurred when a seal was broken, the breaking of said seal having destroyed a castle with an explosion, does not require detailed knowledge to say "You know, that might be problem." In fact, not finding out what the hell it is, is dumb.
He's wrong about one of the most important things he could possibly be wrong about. That he hasn't had opportunity to learn the truth does not change that he is wrong - and instead of trying to learn more from Durkon, he tried to murder him, painfully. He doesn't even consider trying to capture Durkon and interrogate him to see what he's really up to.

In my opinion this extremely doubtful.

Hel is going to survive, on the current dwarf population and not much else, and the Dark One is going to starve on all the goblinoids ever? There are a lot of minor gods in the Northern Pantheon who are going to survive on a few souls here and there, but the Dark One is going to starve on all the goblinoids? They don't live long, so there are more of them per century than other peoples, there were so many dead hobgoblins at Azure City, it is just not reasonable that the Dark One should starve.

Hel's deal with the dwarves does not mean she has no other worshipers among the followers of the Northern Pantheon. For example, she may have worshipers among the Frost Giants.

Durkon's conversation with Thor said that the gods get more power from higher-level souls, and that Fenris' plan of "breed fast, die young, take over with sheer numbers" never works. And Thor himself speculated that TDO might not make it, just as Loki speculated Hel might not make it.

[Peelee]

Fair enough, but they are also what I can come up with off the top of my head.
Also:
MitD is NOT stupid, just childlike.
A massive glowing rift in the sky that occurred when a seal was broken, the breaking of said seal having destroyed a castle with an explosion, does not require detailed knowledge to say "You know, that might be problem." In fact, not finding out what the hell it is, is dumb.
He's wrong about one of the most important things he could possibly be wrong about. That he hasn't had opportunity to learn the truth does not change that he is wrong - and instead of trying to learn more from Durkon, he tried to murder him, painfully. He doesn't even consider trying to capture Durkon and interrogate him to see what he's really up to.



Hel's deal with the dwarves does not mean she has no other worshipers among the followers of the Northern Pantheon. For example, she may have worshipers among the Frost Giants.

MitD tries to pay with monopoly money and eats scrabble tiles. It is not unreasonable to treat him as dumb due to things like this.

There is an information blackout regarding the Gates, and his God also doesn't even know much about them. What, exactly, did you want Redcloak to "find out", disregarding the how? And then, how?

I'm not saying he wasn't wrong about Durkon's offer, I'm saying it was a heavily suspicious offer that was entirely serving the opposing side and had no evidence whatsoever to back up anything he was saying. It would have been ridiculous if Redcloak had taken him up on it, frankly.

Finally, Hel has no living worshippers. The Giant has explicitly said this. None.

[Fyraltari]

Just because the Dark One is the only god worshipped by goblins doesn't mean all goblins worship him. There might be a lot of non-religious ones for all we know. Roy "worships the Northern gods, I guess" and he wasn't sent to any of their domain, I could see Oona who is likewise milquetoast in her relation with divinity also being sent to a layperson's afterlife.

[halfeye]

You sure about that?

If she gets the current dwaft population, through her shenanigans, it seems that the gods agree she will.

Just because the Dark One is the only god worshipped by goblins doesn't mean all goblins worship him. There might be a lot of non-religious ones for all we know. Roy "worships the Northern gods, I guess" and he wasn't sent to any of their domain, I could see Oona who is likewise milquetoast in her relation with divinity also being sent to a layperson's afterlife.

Yeah, but they still go to the Dark One, so they count.

[Shining Wrath]

MitD tries to pay with monopoly money and eats scrabble tiles. It is not unreasonable to treat him as dumb due to things like this.

There is an information blackout regarding the Gates, and his God also doesn't even know much about them. What, exactly, did you want Redcloak to "find out", disregarding the how? And then, how?

I'm not saying he wasn't wrong about Durkon's offer, I'm saying it was a heavily suspicious offer that was entirely serving the opposing side and had no evidence whatsoever to back up anything he was saying. It would have been ridiculous if Redcloak had taken him up on it, frankly.

Finally, Hel has no living worshippers. The Giant has explicitly said this. None.

Children don't understand money and put things in their mouths. If Redcloak can't distinguish between a child and a stupid person, he's dumb.

Regardless of how difficult learning about the Gate would have been, placing most of the population under your rule next to an exploding hole in the sky might not be smart. Whether or not he would have learned anything, he should have tried, and there's no evidence that he did. He knows the Gates exist because they are an integral part of the Plan; he knows they are dangerous because threatening to move one onto outer planes is an integral part of the Plan. Yet he made no effort to determine if this dangerous Gate was dangerous to the city that was also part of the Plan. How is that not arrogant dumbness?

How is it not arrogant dumbness, if you think Durkon's offer is some sort of trick, to not capture him and interrogate him to learn who sent him and what their plan is?

I concede Hel has no living worshippers. Death Goddess and all that.

[Fyraltari]

Yeah, but they still go to the Dark One, so they count.

[Citation needed]

[Crusher]

LaurentioIII - Your guesses are so noted, and I'm fine with "amnesiac Proteus", people have guessed weirder. That having been said, from a purely record-keeping standpoint skipping a 3rd guess doesn't exactly cost you a vote. I mean, sure, it does, but skipping #3 increases the weight of your first two guesses so it sort of evens out. Either way is perfectly fine, I just wanted to make that point.

Edit - Also, I want to note that I slightly regret not arguing that MitD was a "Grand-Mother" Loculi. Yes, it would have created a bit of an issue because Grand-Mothers are female while MitD isn't, and its the biggest Loculi there are so it'd be hard for his father to be bigger, but it would have been slightly stronger on the more crucial parts.

my preferred guess (Slaad)

I've whittled away the fluff to get to the meat of your post, and I'll add this as your guess. Let me know if you want to change it.

[Citation needed]

We certainly know some of them do. At a minimum, it appears his clerics do (Jirix did), and RC seemed to think the elderly goblin craftsman Tsukiko killed did (if he didn't go to the Dark One, he wouldn't even have a chance to do any armor gilding) and there's no evidence he was a cleric (or even a worshiper of the Dark One, though he probably was).

[Laurentio III]

I think the important question that should be answered here is, has Redcloak ever been directly wrong about something he could have done research on and studied? He's been plenty fallible whenever it comes to making guesses, even educated ones, about unknown situations. If he can't verify his assumptions for whatever reason, he's as unreliable as anybody. But whenever he can read about something in a book, he's always been shown as correct, even authoritative.

So... it's Vaarsuvius's bizzarro analogue?

If she gets the current dwaft population, through her shenanigans, it seems that the gods agree she will.

Yeah, but they still go to the Dark One, so they count.

There is the long explaining by Thor (comics #1144, can't link)
Souls are not the only feeding Gods need. They need a "balanced diet" constituted by Belief (acknowledging that a God exist), Worship (the playing), Dedication (the dying last wish to reunite with the divinity) and Soul (the essence of the worshipper in the afterlife).

Hel lacks enough Worship, so her diet is severily unbalanced an could die for it. Loki blames Thor for this, for some reason, even if it is Loki's idea. Guess why.
The Dark One, being a new god, seems to have a balanced but half empty pantry.

And, if the world is destroyed by the Snarl and ALL living souls are lost without even Dedication, it's game over for the both of them.

[Kish]

• I side with the need for MITD to be able to read mind, as it shows to be often aware on things that others knows, but it shouldn't. The alternative would be for it to be able to clairvoyance at will (unlikely).

Huh?

I can think of two things that the creature reading minds even purports to solve, and one of them is a stretch for that. 1) It would make "half a ritual" something the creature could have read from Xykon's mind, assuming undead creatures are not immune to whatever mind-reading effect the creature has. 2) It could explain the "something I heard some guy say" line, if you start from the premise that he was neither simply speaking the truth there, nor lying in the most obvious way to hide that the creature himself does in fact have trenchant political analysis.

Neither would be explained by clairvoyance.

What is supposed to require either mindreading or clairvoyance?

[InvisibleBison]

Whether or not he would have learned anything, he should have tried, and there's no evidence that he did.

I'm not sure about that. Admittedly, "doing math to predict how much the rift will grow" isn't much, but it is some amount of studying the rift, and who knows what else he's done?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Yes, but these spells (less "gate", "maze" and "Plane shift", but it's not the issue) are "self" centered. Others have to be carried by you. If you don't move, they can't move. All texts are clear about it.

No, they are not. They are in fact silent about it. Nothing in the teleport text suggests, much less explicitly requires, that the others are "carried". It targets a number of individuals, including the caster, but does not have any rules regarding what happens when any of the targetted individuals, including the caster itself, cannot teleport. And under the "specific beats general" guideline, that means that the specific rule - the one explicitly pointing out that dimension anchor prevent the effects, rather than the casting, of teleport - I fail to see how your interpretation of the rules beats mine.

(As to the whole "can't be used offensively", that's what saving throws are for. And when a Lich has its boney fingers in your mouth, you don't resist a teleport out. Even if it is going to drop you in a volcano).

I can think of two things that the creature reading minds even purports to solve, and one of them is a stretch for that. 1) It would make "half a ritual" something the creature could have read from Xykon's mind, assuming undead creatures are not immune to whatever mind-reading effect the creature has. 2) It could explain the "something I heard some guy say" line

Errr... no? The two things are the nature of the ritual, read from RC's head, not Xykon; and second, the teleport destination from V's head.

Grey Wolf

[Kish]

Errr... no? The two things are the nature of the ritual, read from RC's head, not Xykon; and second, the teleport destination from V's head.

Grey Wolf

"Ah, okay" on the second one, except that clairvoyance remains inapplicable for it; and for the first: Redcloak is supposed to have been thinking about the nature of the ritual Tsukiko was studying in secret from Redcloak around the creature in the darkness? I am guessing that the proposal is something like, "The creature in the darkness read from Redcloak's mind 'I gave Xykon half of a ritual a lot of years ago, which is central to our plan,' and from Tsukiko's mind, 'Xykon gave me this ritual to study and said it's central to his plans and to keep the fact that I'm studying it secret from Wrong-Eye,' and put these things together to say 'you're studying half a ritual,' since the only mind which holds that information directly would be Xykon's." At which point...1) isn't him actually, legitimately being able to recognize the ritual as half a ritual at a glance an entirely simpler explanation and 2) again, how would Clairvoyance work as an alternate explanation?

[Fyraltari]

We certainly know some of them do. At a minimum, it appears his clerics do (Jirix did), and RC seemed to think the elderly goblin craftsman Tsukiko killed did (if he didn't go to the Dark One, he wouldn't even have a chance to do any armor gilding) and there's no evidence he was a cleric (or even a worshiper of the Dark One, though he probably was).

The normal process of assigning an afterlife goes like this: if the dead worshipped a deity in life they go to their domain, otherwise they are sent to the plane that most accurately match their alignment.

The only known exceptions to thus is the dwarves who are all sent to Hel unless they die honorably in which case they go through the normal process. This is the result of actions Hel, Loki and Thor undertook at the creation of the world.

Halfeye, however claimed that all goblins went to the Dark One after death regardless of religious affiliation. That is the claimed I would want to see backed by something.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

"Ah, okay" on the second one, except that clairvoyance remains inapplicable for it; and for the first: Redcloak is supposed to have been thinking about the nature of the ritual Tsukiko was studying in secret from Redcloak around the creature in the darkness? I am guessing that the proposal is something like, "The creature in the darkness read from Redcloak's mind 'I gave Xykon half of a ritual a lot of years ago, which is central to our plan,' and from Tsukiko's mind, 'Xykon gave me this ritual to study and said it's central to his plans and to keep the fact that I'm studying it secret from Wrong-Eye,' and put these things together to say 'you're studying half a ritual,' since the only mind which holds that information directly would be Xykon's." At which point...1) isn't him actually, legitimately being able to recognize the ritual as half a ritual at a glance an entirely simpler explanation and 2) again, how would Clairvoyance work as an alternate explanation?

Oh, no, yeah, I've no idea where clairvoyance fits in this. I'm strictly speaking about the mind reading bit.

I am still unsure why you think Xykon is involved, btw. As I understand it, the idea here is that at some point in the last umpteen years, possibly when Xykon and RC had a conversation about the ritual and Xykon got that exact parchment, MitD "heard" from RC's thoughts that it is in fact just half the ritual. But I am not aware of Xykon ever understanding that it's only half the ritual - thus why he'd try to get Tsukiko to learn how to cast it (thus rendering RC non-essential, which is what I always understood Tsukiko's assignment's objective). MitD in this scenario merely recognizes the parchment, rather than in any way understanding what's written on it (which given he's never close enough to read it, is a bit of a concern for the alternate interpretation that he's amazing at arcane knowledge).

Grey Wolf

[Kish]

Oh, no, yeah, I've no idea where clairvoyance fits in this. I'm strictly speaking about the mind reading bit.

I am still unsure why you think Xykon is involved, btw. As I understand it, the idea here is that at some point in the last umpteen years, possibly when Xykon and RC had a conversation about the ritual and Xykon got that exact parchment, MitD "heard" from RC's thoughts that it is in fact just half the ritual.

And he recognized at a glance that the parchment Tsukiko is studying is the specific one Redcloak thought about however many years ago? --If it even is, which would have to mean Xykon gave Tsukiko his only copy and so he no longer has his half of the ritual?

Let me say that I think, "Lookie this, his species has a ton of ranks in Knowledge: Arcana and Knowledge: Religion" is vastly more likely than any form of mind reading being involved. (And that's without getting into how odd it is that he doesn't know so many of the things he doesn't know if he casually mindreads Redcloak for obscure details like that. "Redcloak is my friend...well actually he regards me with contempt bordering on loathing, but still!")

That said, on a note entirely, in my view, unrelated to the creature in the darkness: Xykon explicitly knows that the ritual at the center of the Plan requires a divine caster and an arcane caster to cast, with it being himself and Redcloak in Redcloak's plan. If he's studied the ritual Redcloak gave him at all, I would think he's realized both that he could cast it, and that it would do nothing if he cast it alone, so it seems a logical conclusion to me that Xykon realized Redcloak, quite straightforwardly and openly, gave him the arcane half of the ritual; and therefore he would know that that's what he gave Tsukiko, and his mind would be the only one anywhere near the creature in the darkness to hold both the information "This is the arcane half of an arcane and divine ritual" and the information "Tsukiko has it." (Redcloak knew the first of those but not the second, Tsukiko the second but not the first.)

If Xykon does not know that what he has is half a ritual, then I would perforce have to join the "mind reading was somehow involved in the creature in the darkness recognizing it" club, since that would indicate that sufficient Knowledge: Arcana to develop and cast epic spells is not enough to figure that fact out.

[Ruck]

Second: Protean (I think it's a lazy choice even storywise,

How so?

and I don't buy the "eyes are just incidentally always same level because no reason",

Many potential reasons have been given.

but as many said before, a Protean always covers all bases)

And as Grey Wolf has pointed out many times, this is simply not accurate.

[dancrilis]

That is the claimed I would want to see backed by something.

I am not sure it is the right trend for the Dark One speculation but Thor mentions here (panel 1) that the Dark One is the patron god of the goblins - one could read into it that he gets what is his regardless.

Seperately page 40 SOD panel 3 mentions:

Spoiler: SOD

Show

That the Dark One gets to control the destiny of the goblinoids.

Now note I personally believe that the first is weak, and the second is delivered from an unreliable narrator - and suspect that if a goblin worshipped Odin then they would go to Odin rather then the Dark One - but there is evidence (regardless of it being weak or unreliable) that supports that the Dark One gets the souls of all the goblinoids.

[Crusher]

No, they are not. They are in fact silent about it. Nothing in the teleport text suggests, much less explicitly requires, that the others are "carried". It targets a number of individuals, including the caster, but does not have any rules regarding what happens when any of the targetted individuals, including the caster itself, cannot teleport. And under the "specific beats general" guideline, that means that the specific rule - the one explicitly pointing out that dimension anchor prevent the effects, rather than the casting, of teleport - I fail to see how your interpretation of the rules beats mine.

Mostly correct. Here's the specific wording: "You can bring along objects as long as their weight doesn’t exceed your maximum load. You may also bring one additional willing Medium or smaller creature (carrying gear or objects up to its maximum load) or its equivalent (see below) per three caster levels." So, the items are brought along with you and "also" additional people are brought (presumably "with you"). To me, it seems like they *intended* that the people and objects are brought along with the caster when the caster travels, but it doesn't lay out the mechanics specifying that to be the case. And as you say, there's no mention of what happens when the caster can cast but for some reason can't come along. One could argue "passengers don't go if the caster doesn't go" was what they intended, but its not how its written. There's probably a slightly stronger case that you couldn't send objects and then not go yourself, but its still vague.

(As to the whole "can't be used offensively", that's what saving throws are for. And when a Lich has its boney fingers in your mouth, you don't resist a teleport out. Even if it is going to drop you in a volcano).

This, however, is different. As written, you cannot Teleport an unwilling person. Any additional people coming along *must* be willing and it doesn't give any mechanism for trying to teleport someone who isn't willing. Related to this, in the City of Splendors: Waterdeep sourcebook is "Trobriand's Baleful Teleport" (not to be confused with the psionic ability "Baleful Teleport" which is just a single target nuke with the fluff being that it teleports away tiny bits of the target) which works the same as regular Teleport except its one level higher (6th vs 5th) and you can use it offensively on a single target (and the caster doesn't go, just the target). It doesn't say you can upcast it for more targets or functionality or whatever, and while it does say it works the same as regular Teleport you can't upcast regular Teleport, either (you just automatically get extra targets/object weight based on the caster level). Its a Will Save to resist.

[Laurentio III]

and I don't buy the "eyes are just incidentally always same level because no reason",

Many potential reasons have been given.

Yes, and I don't buy them. MITD is seen having two, identical, same level eyes all the time, even when sleeping, when alone and when under pressure or emotive stress.
It keeps the same aspect to fit in a group? Debatable.
Eyes are always at the same level for random luck? Funny.
The author is lazy or purposely hiding a crucial element? Preposterous.
Potential reasons are nice and fun, but I could give any amount of potential reasons for anything, and no one is bound to buy them. It's a guessing game. A little effort is expected.
MITD is clearly Proteus of the X-men. I've tons of reason. All bad. No problem.

About the clairvoyance bit: I retreat the suggestion. It has been provided more mundane options for MITD to know relevant information. Honestly, as it is mostly considered a talking ornament for the throne room, MITD had every opportunity do eavesdrop bits of conversation.
This leaves mind-reading + some form of teleport OR wish for the ESCAPE.

About Teleport (or analogue) being able to affect targets without the caster moving:
You may also bring one additional willing Medium or smaller creature [etc]
• To start, "to bring" has a specific meaning. You don't "bring" something away from you. No interpretation of the english language allows to "bring something to" unless you are part of the transport. It can be part of a figurative speech ("I'll bring you on your knees!"), but here it's a rule system language, not poetry.
• Second, "additional". While it could be related to a weight carried (and even in this case, it's carried... by the caster. The exact wording is "bring along"), I'd assume that it's relative to the caster. The caster and additional (willing) creatures. Or the caster, whatever you bring along, and the additional creature you bring.
• Third, about "willingness". I checked, there is no official rule about "giving consent to an unknown spell that ultimately is benefical to you but you just don't know at the moment". For sure, O-Chul could not give his consent as he was not aware of the imminent effect.
I agree that in that context he was going to agree if informed, so it's mostly a DM choice. Or he and Vaarsuvius both failed a saving throw because, you know, progression of the plot.
So it's mostly a moot point. Let's just say that giving consent is not relevant and eventual saving throws neither.

[mjasghar]

If you are trying to keep the species a mystery from people who have good knowledge of d&d having its eyes always at random levels would ruin the game. That would be a massive clue to it being a Protean
However, to make the guessing game fair you have to provide a rules based reason for the eyes being the same - and the monster always being tired as a way of expressing it’s using up actions to maintain part of its shape is a perfect method.

[Laurentio III]

If you are trying to keep the species a mystery from people who have good knowledge of d&d having its eyes always at random levels would ruin the game. That would be a massive clue to it being a Protean

It's... it's how guessing games works. You have to be honest with the clues. If you intentionally derail details, it's cheating.
You get no kudos for cheating. It's justifiably frowned upon.

What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles?

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Yes, and I don't buy them.

"Not buying them" is not the same as "there are none". And if that is the kind of analysis I can expect from you, I think I'll call this conversation quits.

GW

[mjasghar]

It's... it's how guessing games works. You have to be honest with the clues. If you intentionally derail details, it's cheating.
You get no kudos for cheating. It's justifiably frowned upon.

What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles?

Where’s the cheating? I pointed out exactly how the eyes staying the same can be explained - it’s actually part of the protean rules that they can use actions to maintain part of their shape.

[Shining Wrath]

Where’s the cheating? I pointed out exactly how the eyes staying the same can be explained - it’s actually part of the protean rules that they can use actions to maintain part of their shape.

Sleeping creatures do not take actions. They are effectively incapacitated. That's the big objection to Protean; MitD cannot use actions to maintain a consistent shape while sleeping. I also think that a shape that "boils constantly" and take take on any form from a flea to something 200 feet long is unlikely to always fit within a cage, again while sleeping and unable to take actions. The Protean is still a good candidate, but MitD doing something while asleep that RAW he cannot do is a big ask.

A question for the crowd: do we have any evidence for or against MitD dreaming? Because a dreaming Protean might take on shapes affected in some way by their dreams. "To sleep, perchance to dream ..." - well, if MitD sleeps but never dreams, that's a clue. And if a Protean dreams but it never affects their shape - well, we don't have RAW on that, but it certainly seems odd. People in the real world talk and move because of dreams.

[Laurentio III]

Where’s the cheating? I pointed out exactly how the eyes staying the same can be explained - it’s actually part of the protean rules that they can use actions to maintain part of their shape.

Yes, they can. As they can escape from the cage, but MITD doesn't, even if it expressed explicitly how it make it feels. It doesn't, because it has a reason to. (In my opinion a silly reason, but whatever, it is a very polite younglin.)
Now, I'd like to not beat a dying horse, as the topic has been discussed. I'll summarize just to be sure we are on the same page:
• a protean MITD could keep its eyes fixed as a free action.
• a protead MITD would keep its eyes fixed to better fit in in a group.
• a protean MITD is willing to keep its eyes fixed when under severe stress or totally alone.
• a protean MITD is able to keep its eyes fixed even when sleeping.

First is a give, no argument.
Second is arguable. No one ever asked it to do, and in several times it could have been more convenient to everyone to be "boiling". At the circus (the ringmaster would have asked) and when shouting to Haley and Belkar, to say. I will propose my own counterpoint that revealing it at the latter time would have been against Xylon's orders, but the previous is debatable.
Third, why should? I don't say it's impossible, just unlikely. I mean, it carries the umbrella even when no one is around because it has been ordered to, so... okay?
Forth, plain impossible. No free action when unconscious. And "the panel is randomly getting the same eyes by sheer luck every single time" is comedic material. This is a comic, not a live documentary. (Fine, a comedic comic, fine.)

There is the last, audacious option of saying "Rich is purposely doing it so no one can guess before the reveal", but I do have a better faith in him (which for who knows me from before, is ironical and could seems hypocrital. It isn't.). It would be a green herring, and green herrings are bad writing.

Now, I've been called out for "not buying them". My point is, I don't have to accept theories. Because those are... well, theories. I've to accept FACTS. Facts are cool. Theories can be discussed and accepted, or not. Mostly, they are accepted by majority consensus, and that is the reason I voted the Protean as a second choice even if I dislike it as an option.
I can easily explain the MITD as a bunch of midget circus clown drows all stuffed inside a Slowking costume pooling their silent spells as a college performance act while under any amount of curses and contingences needed to justify any given action. It's irrefutable.
But don't expect anyone to buy it.

[Peelee]

It's... it's how guessing games works. You have to be honest with the clues. If you intentionally derail details, it's cheating.
You get no kudos for cheating. It's justifiably frowned upon.

What's green, hangs on a wall and whistles?

Except it's not cheating. It's the rules of the universe following dramatic convention by not giving the game away right off the bat. Similar to how an imp will summon a 200 foot tall pit fiend or having a name can save you from death.

Assuming it's correct, of course.

[Keltest]

Except it's not cheating. It's the rules of the universe following dramatic convention by not giving the game away right off the bat. Similar to how an imp will summon a 200 foot tall pit fiend or having a name can save you from death.

Assuming it's correct, of course.

We, meaning Peelee and Keltest and all the rest of us, do not live in a universe that follows dramatic convention. If somebody deliberately alters perception of a clue in a guessing game to mislead us in a way that results in the facts of the matter being confused or incorrect, even if they weakly justify it in some way in-story, the fact is they still lied through omission. Which is cheating in the guessing game.

Which would be extra ironic, because the entire argument is based on Rich making story decisions in order to maintain the guessing game "fairly" without making it really easy.