You head down to the cellar and start constructing your still while trying to remember everything you learned in those chemistry classes. The main thing is to make something strong that isn't going to make folks go blind.



You work on it over the course of several days during your spare time as the real alcohol supply dwindles down. Eventually after a mixture of sugar, yeast, potatoes and bunch of other stuff you've taken from the garbage, you're fairly confident you've made enough of this stuff to last you by the time you get the proper shipment.



You haven't exactly been telling your mother what you've been doing, but the smell has been getting to the point that it's starting to invade the kitchen.



"Ugh! It smells awful down here, and I hope you aren't doing what I think you're doing."

"I had to, besides it's finished now and I think this batch has come out pretty good."

"Smells like rotting garbage!"

"Well some of it is, but trust me I think this will tide us over."



Hoping for the best, you and your mother release this new brew to the clientele. You do have the decency to warn them that it's new, but they're always willing to try anything once.



The moonshine brew goes over well, more or less. A few think it's a lot more bitter, but it's not enough to drive anyone away since they're all getting drunk at a quicker rate.



Mr. Reynolds receives his payment and by the end of the month you've got your usual shipment. The problem is you won't be saving money like you were going to while Calwin was your supplier. Your nice rooms haven't really been helping like you thought they might and while you can keep on this way, you're never really going to get ahead.



The thought of continuing to work here any longer is disheartening to you. Maybe you're just being impatient, but after all the problems and headaches you've encountered you really don't feel like dealing with this job anymore, especially not when there is potential danger constantly looming overhead. You're ready to tell your mother to just sell the place.



The only other thing you can think of to cut costs to a degree that will speed up the process is to continue using the still and not bother with buying from the Klyton supplier in the future.

You use the still

You're willing to stick it out a little longer, but you really need to use a few short cuts now. The brew from the still is good enough for the miners and you won't have to deal with a middleman anymore.



Your mother isn't happy with this idea. She wasn't thrilled with it before, but realized it was necessary at the time. You argue with her for hours about the moral and legal ramifications of it all until she finally gets tired and capitulates under stress.



Over the months you manage to save tons of money, are able to pay Mr. Reynolds off larger amounts and you believe in a few more months you'll completely be free of him.



The problem now is with your mother who still insists on bitching at you day in day out despite the fact that you're basically saving her ass from the problems that her and your dumb ass dad got you involved into in the first place.



"For fuck's sake, will get off my fucking back? I've been the main one coming up with solutions on how to save this fucking place and I'm getting shit for it? Why the hell am I getting punished for something you and dad did? I was supposed to be taking classes right now to become a doctor! Y'know, like YOU all wanted me to? I'm trying to make the best of this situation and still find a damn way of achieving my goals yet all I'm getting is kicked in the fucking face for it!" you yell while throwing a potato against the wall.



Your mother shakes her head.



"I don't know what's happened to you, but the son I knew wouldn't be engaging in criminal activities and yelling at me like this. This isn't worth it; I'm not dealing with this anymore. You want to be mad at me and your father, you can go right ahead, you might even be right in some way but I'm still not going to put up with it. You think you can turn this place around and still achieve your goals? Go right ahead, but you're doing it without my help. I quit, and I'm handing this place over to you. Have fun, and I hope you make all your dreams come true."



You're a little shocked by this. You run after her asking what she's going to do and that you're sorry about the stuff you said, but she won't hear it. She just says she's leaving the deed with you and she's going to go live with your aunt Enora in Teckleville.



After some last words are exchanged she's gone. You aren't quite sure how to feel and you're still trying to wrap your head around it when your barmaids come in.



"Hey which one of you is the best cook?"

"Uh, I guess that would be me." Wendy says.

"Good, you're upgrade to cook, you'll get a small raise too."

"What seriously?"

"Yeah, mom quit and gave me this place, so we're making some changes around here."



Wendy looks a little pleased with getting a small promotion, but Rita isn't so happy.



"Hey what about us? You can't just expect us to shoulder all the extra work! You're going to have to hire someone else to help!" Rita says

"Settle down Rita, I'll be getting some new help soon don't worry about it. All I need from the rest of you is to do your jobs."



A few weeks pass and you're doing okay even if you're getting some grumbles from your staff every once in awhile. You do end up hiring a new person, but it's not another barmaid. It's a janitor so the barmaids don't need to worry about cleaning up as much anymore. The great thing is he's simple minded and you don't need to pay him since apparently his mother wanted him out of the house and dragged him by the ear to you when she saw your Help Wanted sign. You agreed to let him sleep in your cellar and he could eat all the rats he catches down there. (Though Eliza gives him real food from time to time)



Your still is perfected a bit better, but the brew from that stuff does take it's toll on your usual patrons. While none of the miners go blind, a lot of them are starting to feel several side effects from drinking the stuff on a regular basis. This causes some to stop coming in altogether, but on the "plus side" you do get a few more lowly types that don't give a shit what poison they put into their system. You end up changing the name of the place to the Bottomless Mug Inn.



Despite your decrease in clientele you still manage to cut enough corners and exploit enough drunks that you pay off Mr. Reynolds. He's a little surprised considering how run down the inn has gotten. He suspects (quite rightly) that you're probably doing something illegal and tells you if you ever need another loan in the future you know where to find him. You vow that you're not going to let that happen.



Well the inn is profitable again (barely) and you've effectively saved the place and your mother from potential danger (mainly yourself) but taking over your father's inn wasn't your dream and it wasn't your parents' dream either.



You figure you've got two choices, you could either sell this place now and hope you get enough money for it to finish your education, or you could continue to run it as a ongoing source of income and somehow manage to save enough as well as find the time to study while running this dump.

You sell the inn

You can't stand running this increasingly run down piss hole anymore; you're selling the place. You figure you should be able to get enough money to finish your schooling.



Unfortunately "piss hole" is too correct of a word for what it goes for. Sure it's a business, and it's in adequate shape, but the city generally doesn't give out that much money for "adequate".



You get just enough money to probably cover a couple semesters, not nearly enough. That's when you get the idea to improvise.



Learning the lesson in cutting corners at the inn, you enroll back at Klyton University and set up a small lab like you did with the still but this time you decide to make drugs instead. Cloud rock is easy to make and you figure you'll be able to support yourself and if you get a part time job on campus, you should be able to swing it. The inn money will help you in the beginning months while you get settled.



Things initially go good for you, just like you thought, but when the inn money runs out that's when crunch time starts and you're not quite as prepared for it as you thought.



Classes get increasingly harder, which means you need to study a lot more, combining that with your two jobs is rough and eventually you're not getting enough rest and one of them has to go. Not surprisingly you quit your regular job as the university's bookstore assistant since it pays less and you figure you can easily make up the money just by selling more drugs which you've become frighteningly good at.



After one more semester, you figure why bother with college at all? You could just sell Cloud Rock all day make as much money as a low level physician might and not bother with studying, because really what has this college business gotten you? A lot of wasted time that's what.



So that's what you do.



It doesn't need to be said that such a path rarely leads to a good end, but you do have your fun while it lasts which is probably a little longer than you thought it might be.



As you lay dying because you pissed off some other criminal for whatever wrong or perceived wrong you might've done to him, you think back to where it all went wrong and all you can think about is:



"That damn inn."