(Had sent a message to them but seems they have not hopped on on DDB for a couple days.)

With an audible gasp, Muck looks very pleased with himself and his body takes on the shape of the Beshlog, but just a tiny bit bigger. "To be honest, I was not expecting to win at all." Then he turns to Warren, "I am sorry for the vengeance Beshlog is about to put you through."

Then just loudly enough for everyone in the room to "overhear" his comments, "While you two fight it out, I am going to go and say hello to our good friend Miken and ask him more about spelljamming, since he was so helpful this morning at explaining this mission and what we need to do."

"Don't get too cocky," Beshlog calls after the slime. "We both know that you got lucky."

The giant turns back to the dragonborn fighter then.

"Now friend, where were we?" he says with a grin and a glint in his eye.

Warren watches the arm wrestle and is pretty surprised with the result. "Heh, I bet ye were lucky with that one Muck. I guess we'll see what kind a vengeance Beshlog can throw at me then!" The dragonborn slams his arm down onto the table and eyes the giant, "Let's see who luck favor's this time! Either way I sure ain't goin down easy!"

Athletics: 19

Beshlog is going to use his Inspiration point to get advantage on the Athletics check.

Athletics: 19

(I swear, the dice have done nothing but mock me throughout this entire campaign right from the beginning. What a waste of Inspiration...)

(Oof. Yeah I know how that feels. In pretty much every campaign i'm in, my perception is cursed. Lol the worst part is Warren really isn't that strong.)

(Yeah... seriously, at this rate I'm feeling like I'm going to have to pick up Skill Expert at level 4 to make Beshlog's Athletics checks practically dice-proof... along with the Silvery Barbs spell and Enlarge/Reduce spell. Looking forward to picking up a Warlock level to get dice-free damage from Armor of Agathys extended ad-infinitum by the power of Arcane Ward.)

(Lol as long as that doesn't make it worse! It almost seems like the roller rolls worse the higher your modifier is. Like, the one character I have that doesn't have super high perception rolls nat 20s like no tomorrow, then every other one all with +4 modifiers or higher, never get anything above a 9. Lol the dice-free damage will definitely come in handy.)

(You aren't wrong... it's amazing how that works. Fortunately, RAW nat 1's aren't auto-fails except for the purpose of attack rolls, and even if the dice roller hates you, I've never seen it roll a nat 1 in spite of advantage... yet)

(Lol, while it was not me personally, that did happen to one of the other players in a different PbP i'm in. Though I'm not sure it counts because it was caused by the roller glitching and changing the roll after the player reloaded their screen. Lol yet another reason I roll on the sheets even if they are cursed.)

[OOC: I always blame the dice Gods on my crappy rolls, they tend to hate me so much. And I never, ever, ever mention the Cursed Named One, around any post I need to roll :) ]

After coming back from talking about nonsense with Miken, Muck sees the result of the contest and his form changes light to a green tinted Dragonborn but says not a word.

Beshlog stares in shock as Warren accomplishes a seemingly miraculous show of athletics... he's not in the mood to say anything else for a while, and sits in a corner silently contemplating whether or not his honor as a goliath demands that he commit seppuku after two humiliating defeats in a row.

"Guess, Warren is the Captain then?" Mirelda summed up the intense competition,  nodded to the outcome and clapped her hands. "Are we all ready to meet our competitors then? Let's do it!"

Muck changes back into his normal blob state and slide over to Beshlog, "Do not worry, everyone has an off day, this was just one small encounter, many many more to come where I know you will shine. As a matter of fact, our competition is about to get start and we have a new opponent to fight and we need you."

Warren sits there a for a moment, surprised at his success, then he jumps up from his seat, "Hah! Captain Warren it is then eh partner?!" The dragonborn seems oblivious to how this affected the goliath, especially after noticing Muck mimicking a dragonborn. Before he can say anything, the rouge reverts back into a blob. Warren smiles at Mirelda, "Looks like it! Let's be off!"

Beshlog does his best to return Muck's friendly smile, but he doesn't look very convinced.

"Sure... I'll be a huge help," he mutters. "Well, guess it's best we get ready. Maybe I'll even manage to get myself killed in a training exercise and not have to listen to my kinfolk telling me how I should have just stayed on the rock farm."

After a long pull on her cigar, Boatswain Tarto surveys the assembled crews.

“Each crew is to navigate their ship through a debris field on the outskirts of Coliar, a sodding big gas giant. There, you’re to salvage the captain’s logbook from the wreckage of an abandoned ship, then return to your starting point with your own ship intact.”

Tarto levels a steely eye and says with a glare, “Intact, not first. Get the mission done well; not quick.”

(Will continue on with the absent players acting as shipmates for now.)

Saerthe heads to your group, "Follow me please, Mister Blip should be done soon enough with setting up the sim." He guides you all to one wing of the floor, while Tarto takes the other group. Inside you see the quartermaster working away at a table, with a complex machine upon it, with runes glowing and machina buzzing. He notices your party's arrival and hurries over you all. 

"Greeting cadets, here are the necessary supplements for the mission." He hands over two pieces of parchment. One being a wildspace map and another that seems to be a rough drawing of a journal. Mister Blip hurries back to the table as Saerthe motions for you all to head to the center of the sim room where a spelljaming helm is atop a raised platform. As you all step onto the platform Saerthe steps back from the platform, holds their palms outward, and begins an incantation. The sigils scrawled along the walls and floors glow brightly, intensifying as the training officer weaves their powerful illusion.

“Good luck, cadets,” Saerthe says, “and don’t be afraid. Though these illusions are realistic, thanks to my arcane prowess, they are just that—illusions.”

Blue-white lines form around you, etching the shape of a ship deck around the platform upon which you stand. The room then melts away amid an explosion of colors, textures, and sounds that place you on the deck of a ship that is shaped like a gigantic hammerhead shark. The ship is situated in the Sky Dock atop Spelljammer Academy. Scudding clouds fill the sky above you.

Mirelda stopped being afraid after the first lesson. No, wrong, she was not afraid there either, but in awe of the surroundings. The hammerhead ship was also not something unfamiliar - the tour was still fresh in her mind, so, she just nodded and waited for the command for everyone to take their places at the designated location.