Day five, Morning, in the courtyard of the Baron's residence
Bran bounds down the stairs followed by Ullara and Jan. The hound proceeds to work his way back and forth across the courtyard, zeroing in whatever has got his attention. Eventually he comes to a halt in front of a pile of canvas next to some boxes in a in a dark corner. He barks softly a couple of times.
Beneath the canvas is Sour, one of the serving boys. Lying nearby is a wicker basket of tinder and small branches. Sour's job in the morning, before the rest of house rises, is to restock the fires in preparation for cooking breakfast and warming water. Even in the pale moonlight, his face is bone white and covered with a sheen of sweat. His features are frozen in a rictus grin and his eyes enormous. There are several dark stains marking his coat, and he lies in a dark slick of viscous blood. He appears all but dead until he spasm violently for a brief period, making small whimpering noises as he does so, before falling still again.
Those who move close enough to touch the boy notice there is, mingled in with the smell of blood and piss and
, a bitter acidic smell coming from the wounds.
Note: The Baron's residence is shaped like a broad H. The front is for family and display, the back is for servants and work. Stables, storage and servant rooms are all off the back courtyard. The back courtyard is ordered, but still quite crowded. There is a well, a woodpile, a wagon, ramp access to the cellars and even a small smithy. The bottom of the courtyard is closed off by a wall, on the other side of which is a street. A stout gate allows access though to the street. The wall is about 15 feet high. The outside of the wall is smooth enough to make climbing a challenge. Along the insides, however, there are plenty of things stacked nearby to make climbing out reasonably straight forward.
[sblock=Healing DC 14]The boy is dying of his wounds (negative hp - two stab wounds). But has also been poisoned, which is destroying his ability to stabilise (ie CON damage). To treat the poison it will take as long as a character needs to get make 3 successful Heal checks vs DC14. One check is allowed per round, he dies after 5 rounds). You can reduce the DC by 2 if you have a source of light. Characters can assist each other. They cannot stack or add separate checks.[/sblock]
[sblock=Perception DC 16]The courtyard is otherwise empty.[/sblock]
[sblock=Perception DC 22]The flat horizon of the wall is broken by a single dark finger pointing at the sky. It glints dully in the moonlight.[/sblock]
