Two Rivers Isle This world is only gonna break your heart

Ulrich did not know how to feel about having smelled like a dead fox at any time in his life. He felt this knowledge would haunt him forever, and he would take baths with increasing frequency until he practically lived in the river. He held himself to a certain standard, and smelling of dead fox certainly broke that standard.

They found the fox soon enough; its pungent scent was easy to track. Ulrich stared down into the mouth of the den. It died inside, he said, sighing. The den will stink of it for days, but I'll take this den over the open air any winter's day. Wait. He took a breath and held it, and then plunged the front half of his body into the hole, rooting around for the fox. Luckily it had died near the entrance, and he pulled it out quickly and tossed it to the side. Lunch, he said. And then we'll work on digging out this den. Making it bigger and tearing up the earth will help get the smell out faster. And, without hesitation, he began to tear into the rotting corpse.