It came about sorta like this:

A certain Drow decided to attack a certain Bard, who would have none of it. Said Drow and Bard commenced attempting to kill each other, while both players were hesitant to actually go for the kill. Meanwhile the other characters sought to break up the fight, also holding back to avoid actually hurting other player-characters. Because of this indecisiveness, the RP was at a stalemate.

Therefore, the Salvagers were introduced in order to give the PCs something they could whack guiltlessly and to their hearts' content. And they did. And destroyed the tavern in the process. Things would never go back to the happy-go-lucky social evening it had been, so a vote was cast to continue on as an adventure. Thus, zombies.

...oh, I guess that was a hypothetical question. XD