I find it odd that every time I buy a box of skinks, I always happen to get 4 skink braves and 20 regular skinks even though the box leads you to believe you get one skink brave and 23 normal skinks. I also noticed they give you more hand weapons and javelins than you need. How many do you get in a box?
I feel like this is the kind of question you'd get at a fayre. Answer 1: 24 Skinks, generally. Of which you can choose to elect four to be Braves - so you can choose to field one huge cohort or four small units. Answer 2: the Skinks are both dead and alive until you open the box.
Several years ago when I had pet reptiles, my turtle came in the mail and when I opened it, I was greeted by an empty shell and a maggot riddled flesh.