Avatar Of Kali

In her avatar form, Kali was a human woman whose body was of a dark skin tone with voluptuous proportions and four arms. In her true form, these arms each ended in hands with sharp talons, her skin was black as the night, and she stood 20 feet (6.1 meters) tall. Her face had three red eyes, was skeletal-like,  and had two long fangs. She typically wore very little clothing other than a skirt made of severed hands a necklace of skulls around her neck.

Kali was known to be incredibly ruthless, savage, and hate-filled. However, as a being of contradictions, she was also known to be very loving and gentle. She delighted equally in creating and destroying, even things she herself had created, as well as showing other creatures the inherent beauty in both acts. She hoped to one day gain control of all the outer planes. Kali typically fought with her clawed hands and a sword. Outside of direct combat, this goddess was known to engage in covert methods of eliminating her opponents, typically strangling them to death from behind with a knotted cord.

Kali was capable of shape-shifting at will. Most forms she took through this power inspired a great sense of fear in other creatures. Any mortal that kissed her avatar was completely dominated by Kali, no matter their strength of will, and would remain as such until her avatar was destroyed. She was capable of creating living creatures from inanimate matter.

Gustofsen Eller, a planar expert renowned in the Realms, spent much of his life trying to curb the activities and worship of Kali after a group of her worshipers from another plane murdered his family. However, his efforts to hurt her were largely ineffective and went unnoticed by the goddess.

Around 1357 DR, Kali began receiving a series of dreams involving a grand and complex ritual, requiring thousands of worshipers participating in a ceremony over the course of a thousand years, that climaxed in her powers being vastly enhanced. Wanting to further witness these visions, but avoid leaving herself vulnerable, she slept within a black crypt beneath the middle of her layer's ocean of blood. While sleeping she would summon worshipers to sacrifice their souls in order to nourish her, with demon servitors snatching those who were reluctant to do so.

Two months following the start of this activity, Gustofsen mistook the lack of her activity on the Prime Material plane as evidence that his efforts had proven successful and he proclaimed to have killed the goddess. An adventuring party was soon assembled in order to accompany him to her layer of the Abyss to verify this claim.

Kali was known to devour her own children for sustenance and destroy those she wed. On occasion she would send her avatar to the Prime Material plane to help women in childbirth or murderers that were in danger.

Other deities within the Vedic pantheon would readily accept her taking the role of leadership in battles without protest, for they knew her destructiveness was unmatched.

Her prowess in destruction was so great that it inspired fear in even the most horrid of demons and devils.

The worship of this goddess required sacrifices of blood and on occasion the sacrifice of an entire human. She was typically worshiped by assassins, as well as prominent and well-respected members of society. The latter would often sneak out under the cover of night and strangle travelers to death with knotted cords in order to prove their devotion. Such cords, as well as clubs and any weapon that did not draw blood, were preferred among her worshipers.

Kali's cult of worship was known as the Thagna. Its priestly vestments were black robes. Those who swore to protect the cult fought with an enraged state and were willing to sacrifice themselves so long as it meant that all who opposed her were slain in the process. Some believed that she was capable of killing creatures with merely a thought.

Kali’s Lair

Kali presided over both the 500 and 643 layers of the Abyss. The first was an unnamed layer full of jagged mountains, tropical jungles in which all vegetation was blood-red in hue, a crimson sky devoid of clouds, and an ocean of blood from which sounds of screaming could be constantly heard. Above this ocean and scattered throughout its jungles were numerous portals that connected the realm to other layers of the Abyss. Within this layer lived assassin bugs, elephants, giant centipedes, leucrottas, various types of spiders, spirit nagas, su-monsters, will-o'-wisps, several types of demons (in particular nabassu), as well as a variety of molds and slimes.

Throughout the 500 layer were several deteriorating temples, overgrown with the red vegetation of the realm's jungles. Within each of these temples lived fifty human petitioner monks, who in life had been assassins, and three chaotic evil rakshasas who acted as the senior monks. Outsiders who came upon these temples were welcomed inside and invited to join them in worship of Kali. Those who refused their invitation would be attacked.

The other layer she resided over was known as the "Caverns of the Skull". They were a series of dark and gloomy, ever-changing caverns of black stone, full of musty air and lit by flickering torches. It was inhabited by petitioners as well as eyewings, fetch, fireshadows, and bloodthirsty xorn. The fanatical petitioners within this layer were trapped within a constant cycle of conflict with each other, fighting to the death and then being reborn to start the cycle anew. When not fighting among themselves, these petitioners chanted day and night, their words echoing through the caverns. Unlike her other layer, those who resided here would outright try to kill any traveler so that their blood could be offered to Kali on altars.Of all the petitioners within this layer the most powerful were proxies, who acted as guardians of the gates out of her realm. Only by killing them could one activate one of these gates. Rumors alleged that these proxies were brutal murderers in life whose vile acts had managed to impress Kali.

Lair Actions

On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), Kali can take a lair action to cause one of the following effects; he can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:

• Kali casts the command spell on every creature of his choice in the lair. She needn’t see each one, but she must be aware that an individual is in the lair to target that creature. He issues the same command to all the targets.

• Magma erupts from a point on the ground Kali can see within 120 feet of it, creating a 20-foot-high, 5-foot-radius geyser. Each creature in the geyser's area must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 21 (6d6) fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

Regional Effects

The region containing Kali's lair is warped by his magic, creating one or more of the following effects:

• The sky within 6 miles of the lair turns to a blood color and all vegetation slowly begins to wither and die.
• Wild beasts within 6 miles of the lair break into frequent conflicts and coupling, mirroring the behavior that occurs during their mating seasons as well as becoming unusually savage, killing far more than what they need for food. Carcasses of prey are left to rot in an unnatural display of wasteful slaughter.
• Within 6 miles of the lair natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, etc. are more likely to happen.

If Kali dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days, and flora and fauna return to the area tenfold.