Al-Ghaffar of the Tide

Linguistic Auditor · 1920s

A classic NPC for Call of Cthulhu.

The clocks speak eleven minutes too late; the dead tongue waits.

Abilities

  • STR: 40
  • CON: 45
  • SIZ: 50
  • DEX: 40
  • APP: 35
  • INT: 55
  • POW: 45
  • EDU: 50

Stats

  • Occupation: Linguistic Auditor
  • Hit Points: 48
  • Sanity: 45/99

Appearance

A thin figure in a long, salt‑stained coat, boots cracked with dried tide‑mud, and a leather satchel bulging with vellum sheets. Their eyes are shadowed, and they speak in a measured tone, as if weighing each word against the rust of time.

Backstory

Al‑Ghaffar once served as a junior translator for the Maritime Archive, tasked with rendering a recovered tablet of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. The text was in a language with no living speakers; its loss would be catastrophic because the phrases bind a tide‑worn slumber. They have kept a copy hidden, fearing that uttering the verses could wake something beneath the waves, yet they cannot bring themselves to destroy it.

Hook

The investigators acquire a peculiar artifact inscribed with the same dead script. Al‑Ghaffar arrives, insisting on examining it before any further handling. Their presence brings a chill, and every clock in the room runs exactly eleven minutes behind true time—a sign that the language’s absence is already unraveling reality.

Tags: mythos, clocks, tide, inspector, translator, salt, linguistic, auditor

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