#halownests charms work on the same general principle but you hammer notches right into your shell

[mantisgodsdomain]

(via @subwaybug)

Our job is overthinking game mechanics, basically. Medal Points are how much magic your body can take before things start acting up as you reach a sort of "saturation" - can be on your end, the medal's end, or both, and you generally don't want to find out what specific flavor you have when you start getting heart murmurs mid-battle.

While charmcraft is one of, if not the most powerful thing you can have on hand for things like healing, without removable pieces, it's regarded as all too dangerous, especially with the host of side effects it brings around. A problematic medal can be removed, but a grafted limb cannot - and the way that charmcraft allows one to play with flesh, there tend to be a few aspects in there related both to protecting those who might be altered in such a way and preventing those who might seek out suck alterations from doing so.

With the way the current regulations are set up, it is fully illegal to practice charmcraft on living flesh, or to purposefully have charmcraft practiced on your living flesh - however, past procedures are protected to an extent. The laws are nebulous, but the rule of thumb is generally "if they can't pin down where you got it done they can't arrest you for having charmcraft practiced on you". This exception is in place primarily for the sake of those who had work done before the law was put into place, especially as charmcraft is the single most effective (and, debatably, safest) method to replace missing limbs or organs. Marigold simply circumvents the whole issue by instead making things meant to act on living flesh.

...and yes, being transmuted permanently takes up medal points. Sucks for you, we guess.

Since Marigold's won Round Two, we might as well make a lore post for her! Some fun trivia about her and her particular method of transmutation before we move on to the next round of the @bug-oc tournament. Below a cut because it got a bit long - hopefully, it's still readable!

Her specific species is the Acherontia styx - the lesser death's head hawk moth.

She was hatched and raised in the Bee Kingdom, though she's travelled just about everywhere in Bugaria at one point or another.

Her current abode is where it is both because of convenience and because of close proximity to the Explorer's Association - a safety net against tougher customers is deeply appreciated, and technically, she's not doing anything illegal.

She has no magic of her own. Rather, her concoctions are charmcraft - the same thing that makes medals possible! Her transmutations are purely from external magic, drawing specific effects from certain combinations of materials to make a cocktail of magical effects to do whatever she wants.

Charmcraft will work with just about anything, requiring only good knowledge of what you're doing and a particular selection of tools to infuse magic directly into an object. Optionally, it may also include a specially prepared charmcraft workstation, made to isolate your reagents for environmental effects and potential decay.

Though traditional medals are generally in a very small range of shapes, being limited to small accessories that are easy to put on or remove, Marigold's charms can come in just about any shape or size - from more traditional metal pins to potions to full-on armor. This is due to a particular quirk of her charms that most medals don't have.

With a regular medal, the magic is self-contained in the medal, merely transferring to the user when equipped. The medal activates when equipped, latching onto a bug and running off of their body, and deactivates when removed. A bug may have more or less tolerance for charm usage depending on the individual, and tolerance can increase with experience.

With Marigold's charms, it's just about the same, with a single major difference - upon use, and the original item is either destroyed or absorbed, transferring the full effect to the user and making it impossible to unequip.

It may be fully absorbed, becoming indistinguishable from the rest of a bug's body, fused, becoming a noticeable part of them, or simply shatter. Regardless, the original charm is useless after transfer, the effect now fully localized and sustained in the user's body. Unable to be removed, it sinks into the body and lingers, asserting its effect on the user passively much like a more structured version of a Heart Berry or similar item.

Though it's technically illegal to use charmcraft directly on living flesh, Marigold's effects remain legal through the same way that normal medals remain legal: the effect is still self-contained to the object, merely acting on a bug's body when activated. The only real difference is the break - and if a normal charm breaking could produce a similar effect, if a bug was unlucky enough.

As Marigold's items are one-use, rather than permanant objects like normal charms, testing becomes both more dangerous and more person-heavy. Can't just yank it off if something goes wrong, after all! Once the charm is in effect, it's in effect, no matter how gristly the results.

Not to say that accidents are common, of course. Marigold is very experienced in charmcraft by now, and defects are few and far between! She knows what she's doing, and she wouldn't make a rookie mistake, especially when she knows precisely who her target is. Though there are plenty of horror stories from amateur body modders trying similar methods for more frivolous reasons, you're in good hands, picking her as your contact.

That said…

Accidents can happen.

Especially while working with exotic biology.

Especially while working with poorly-understood species.

Especially when working with materials that are hazardous even outside of a charm.

There's always a risk, with these things. Good thing that you're with someone experienced.

(from round 2 onwards, there will be a small chance of something going… wrong, with a transmutation.)