Kali's altar found in a jungle
Bloodstained Altars dedicated to the fickle goddess Kali can be found scattered throughout the caves. So long as Kali isn't too unhappy with you, you can earn favor by leaving stunned or dead bodies as offerings upon the altar. However, destroying an altar (or even simply allowing an altar to be destroyed) will anger Kali, reducing your favor standing with her.
Favor
Making sacrifices to Kali will increase your standing with her. Kali's altar works on a point system, with different corpses being worth different amounts, giving more favor for stunned sacrifices over dead ones.
| Sacrifice | Stunned Favor | Dead Favor |
|---|---|---|
| Damsel | 8 | 4 |
| Spelunker | 6 | 3 |
| Hired Hand | 6 | 3 |
| Shopkeeper | 6 | 3 |
| Other stunnable Characters | 6 | 3 |
| Witch Doctor | 4 | 2 |
| Croc Man | 4 | 2 |
| Sorceress | 4 | 2 |
| Necromancer | 4 | 2 |
| Caveman | 2 | 1 |
| Cave Mole | 2 | 1 |
| Tiki Man | 2 | 1 |
| Octopy | 2 | 1 |
| Yeti | 2 | 1 |
| Olmite | 2 | 1 |
| Cave Turkey | 2 | 1 |
| Rock Dog | 2 | 1 |
| Axolotl | 2 | 1 |
| Qilin | 2 | 1 |
| Horned Lizard | 2 | no corpse |
| Mantrap | 2 | no corpse |
| Vampire | 2 | no corpse |
| Vlad | 2 | no corpse |
| Scorpion | 2 | no corpse |
| Eggplant Child | 0 | 0 |
| Hermit Crab | 0 | 0 |
| Leprechaun | 0 | 0 |
| Proto Shopkeeper | 0 | no corpse |
Rewards
- 8 Favor: A random item will be granted to the player.
- 16 Favor: The player is granted the Kapala.
- 24 Favor: The player is granted Royal Jelly.
- For every further 8 Favor, the player is granted an additional Royal Jelly.
Gaining enough favor to receive a reward after the player has been cursed will replace the reward normally given with a curse removal.
Some special items can be sacrificed to Kali that grant specific rewards. These do not grant Favor, as the special item is seen as the reward.
Sacrificing a Golden Idol to Kali will result in a Golden Monkey.
Sacrificing a gift box to Kali will result in an Eggplant.
Sacrificing a stunned Shopkeeper, Leprechaun or any other NPC that would usually drop money on death will still cause them to drop money.
If you have over 16 favor, sacrificing a rock will result in an arrow.
Sacrificing an Ushabti will result in a companion of some kind, depending on your favor. The higher your favor, the better the reward. The potential rewards can be, in order of favor required: a shotgun-wielding hired hand, a hired hand, a turkey, and finally a caveman if you have little to no favor. Do keep in mind that for every Ushabti you sacrifice, your amount of favor is halved.
Sacrificing two dice will result in a different result, depending on what number the dice add up to.
| Dice Total | Reward |
|---|---|
| 2 | Snake |
| 3 | Diamond |
| 4 | Telepack |
| 5 | Spectacles |
| 6 | Rope Pile |
| 7 | Machete |
| 8 | Web Gun |
| 9 | Cooked Turkey |
| 10 | Climbing Gloves |
| 11 | Vampire |
| 12 | Hired Hand |
Punishments
Destroying an altar leads to punishment. As soon as either of the altar blocks is destroyed, Kali spawns some monsters there (including Spiders, Bats, Jiangshi, Jiangshi Assassins and Vampires). The spawning of Vampires is not guaranteed, but it could be beneficial to player to summon them and kill them for their Cape. However, it is usually best to make the effort for the Kapala given how powerful it is.
Upon allowing it to be destroyed a second time, the same monsters will spawn, but the player will also be given the ball and chain. This massively reduces the player's mobility.
Allowing it to be destroyed a third time, will spawn monsters again, give the player another ball and chain, spawn the ghost permanently (it will immediately appear in later levels), curse the player, and force any subsequent level that can be dark to be dark.
The ball and chain can be destroyed via lava or by crushing it, which will remove the darkness and permanent ghost by the next level.
Guaranteed and Altarless levels
Certain levels in the game are guaranteed to have an alter.
City of Gold
In the City of Gold, a special altar spawns. It will have a massive bullhead holding the ankh, and It will always spawn in the middle of the level with a few levers that will open rising doors. It has the same functionality as a normal altar, with the ability to sacrifice creatures on that level. However it differs in 1 key way from other levels. When you sacrifice yourself on it with the ankh, you are sent to the Duat, a secret world.
Duat
The Duat also has an altar. It will have a gift, presumably from Kali, that depends on your favor with her.
- 8-16 favor = a cooked turkey
- 16-24 favor = a bomb bag
- 24-32 favor = a bomb box
- 32+ favor = a powerpack
Madame Tusk's Palace of Pleasure
An altar is guaranteed to spawn on 6-3 (Neo Babylon) in the basement Madame Tusk's Palace of Pleasure. If you kill all the guards in the Palace (5 upstairs and one in the basement), you will be able to get a total of eighteen favor points, which is enough to get a Kapala from 0 points. This is the only way an altar can spawn in the back area of a level.
Altarless Levels
Altars will never spawn on 1-1, 1-4, Azbu, Tiamet's throne, Hundun's hideaway, or in the Cosmic Ocean, due to these areas being the first level, having bosses, or too far from Kali to have altars constructed.
Beg
Upon finding another altar after allowing it to be previously destroyed, the player will encounter Beg standing on top of the altar, who has the curse status. He will give the player 3 bombs, then teleport away.
If the player finds another altar after meeting Beg, and is themselves cursed, Beg will acknowledge the player and himself as kindred spirits, and give them The True Crown, which teleports the player in the direction they are facing every 22 seconds, but gives them 22 bombs every time it happens.