To probe the attitudes of the duergar within the Forge of Vengeance, the team decided—after much discussion—to have Aoko go in alone first. She was the only one with the ability to instantly escape if things went wrong, and, if needed, could erase the duergar's memories to prevent exposure.
Perhaps due to the lack of intelligent creatures in the Underdark near the Forge of Vengeance, the duergar had grown lax in their defenses. Only two duergar guards, clearly in poor spirits, stood at the entrance.
Aoko easily charmed one guard with [Charm Person], then used [Hypnosis] to brainwash the other.
To ordinary folks, these two spells may seem similar, but they work quite differently.
Charm Person makes a humanoid consider the caster a friend, but it's hard to make them do something they don't want to do.
Hypnosis, on the other hand, raises the target's favorability by two levels, and this effect persists.
At first glance, Hypnosis seems more effective, but if the target's attitude was extremely hostile, Hypnosis might only raise it to indifferent—far from ideal.
Before casting spells on the duergar gate guards, Aoko was invisible and remained hidden until the magic took effect, so the entire process went unnoticed.
After confirming her spells worked, Aoko confidently revealed herself and greeted the two now-ensnared guards.
"Oh? It's you?"
The charmed duergar guard waved at her amiably.
"How's it going? Made any money lately?"
The hypnotized duergar, meanwhile, glanced at his companion and then at Aoko, suddenly feeling she looked familiar and decided not to interfere.
"Don't even ask," Aoko replied, feigning dejection. "I lost all my savings in a business venture. I swear I'll never do business again."
"Haha, didn't I tell you not to mess around? Wouldn't it be better to just work and earn honest pay?" the charmed duergar laughed.
"Since you're back, I'll take you for a drink, and later I'll find you a job!"
"That'd be great," Aoko said, imitating a duergar's accent. "If I wander around out there any longer, I'd probably starve!"
"Hahaha!" The charmed duergar laughed, turning to his companion.
"Cover for me, I'm taking my friend for a drink. I'll bring something back for you!"
"Get lost already!" the hypnotized one scolded with a smile. "Teaming up with you is a real pain!"
To the two duergar, Aoko now looked like one of their own, thanks to a [Reflective Disguise] illusion spell she'd cast—akin to a magical mirror.
Duergar have some resistance to illusions, but that depends on the skill of the caster. Evidently, these two guards couldn't see through Aoko's magic.
She also adjusted her voice, since duergar are much shorter than her. She used [Ventriloquism] to lower the apparent source of her voice, so it wouldn't seem to come from above their heads.
The beauty of the Charm Person spell is that once the target becomes a "friend," they'll rationalize a lot in their heads—explaining why the charmed duergar accepted Aoko's nonsense so readily.
But since Charm Person wears off, Aoko, while chatting idly, quietly cast Hypnosis on the charmed guard as well—ensuring he wouldn't become a problem once the charm ended.
Normally, Hypnosis only boosts favorability.
Aoko, however, had tweaked this simple spell, incorporating elements from Suggestion, allowing her to implant simple thoughts and memories into the victim.
The upside: the effect is greatly enhanced.
The downside: casting takes much longer—even at her level, she can't make it instantaneous.
As the Suggestive Hypnosis finished, the charmed duergar grew even more enthusiastic, vowing that tonight they wouldn't go home until they were both drunk.
Aerial reconnaissance sometimes misses details; now, infiltrating the Forge of Vengeance herself, Aoko noticed many things she hadn't seen from above.
First, the duergar's state of mind.
By nature, duergar—an evil-aligned race—are typically hostile to outsiders and often at war with the drow. But, being dwarves, they're also obsessed with forging and trade, so even as they fight, business still comes first.
Unexpectedly, this group of duergar was friendlier and more relaxed than she'd imagined.
It was obvious the charmed duergar was skipping work to drink, but none of the others bothered to intervene; everyone minded their own business.
Aoko figured that if they sparked a slave revolt, aside from those with a vested interest, most duergar would scatter—good news for her team.
"That tavern over there is new," the charmed duergar said enthusiastically. "So drinks are cheap right now.
To celebrate your return, drinks are on me!"
"Great!" Aoko replied, pretending to be delighted. "But could you save me a seat first? I need to check my old place—otherwise, I'll have to sleep on the streets tonight."
"If you really have nowhere to stay, you can crash at my place," the duergar offered. "Don't worry about the tavern—I'll order the food and drinks. Just hurry over!"
"Sure, no problem!" said Aoko. "See you in a bit!"
With that, Aoko smoothly slipped into the very heart of the Forge of Vengeance, where the duergar were thickest.
Thanks to her duergar guide, the others didn't see her as a suspicious stranger; even if they didn't know her, they just assumed she was a friend of the charmed one.
Following the map they'd drawn from aerial recon, Aoko found her way to the room where the most gnome slaves were held.
Winding her way through the camp, she finally stopped beside an outer wall near the slave quarters.
After confirming no one was watching, Aoko quickly drew a teleportation circle at the base of the wall and linked it to another circle she'd prepared beforehand, activating the connection.
A flash of magical light—and the other five team members appeared from the circle. All six had now quietly infiltrated the Forge of Vengeance.