That's really, really disappointing. That means I still can't make Hroki mine.
I would have loved being able to do this to almost any character. You could make it so they go on with their lives nornly so it doesn't screw things up, but you can recruit them whenever you need them. You could have options for them to make you food, carry your weapon, shine your boots, backrub perhaps? It would only work once a week to keep you from enthralling everyone. But if you chose to do so why not?
Seriously though this was a missed opportunity. With enough creativity this could work