Evil Invaders

Pike being the lumbering beast that he is, tries his best to dodge the shrapnel from the explosion.

Are you sticking close for the second exploding corpse?

Pike growls at the inconvenience of being injured and moves away from the exploding corpses as quickly as he is capable of moving.

Strux turn to Ash; "Yesh, being hurt is not my thing. Better run for cover though, unless being hurt is your thing." he says as he zooms away for cover.

As you pull away, the second corpse explodes showering Pike with more bone splinters, but he takes no more damage.

Combat is over.

The ghastly scene is suddenly so much more serene, if standing in a graveyard is your thing.

Farther in the necropolis, a torch lights, lit by flint and fueled by pitch. "Hello?" calls a voice.

Hermod brushes of dust and pieces of bones after the explosion. He stays clear of the second skeleton.
Startled by the sudden appearance of a voice, he turns to get a better view of the person speaking.

"Who goes there?" he demands

"Hey, who's there? My name is Cinder and I'm a bit lost."

The torchbearing man comes forward. He's dressed in rivet-studded leather clothing, with a thin sword at his hip. A dark hat covers his unruly mess of hair. He keeps his free hand away from the sword, but he's wary of your dangerous appearances.

"Who, easy there fellas ... and lady. Anyone got a light for a pipe?"

"Nice hat! Pike bellows, still looking like a sight straight from hell. "Well Cinder, you are not alone in that. Aren't we all but lost chldren in this hell we call life?"

Impressing himself with his philosophical question, he relaxes his weapon and his body, wiping the blood from his face with an arm. "I'm a right mess, aren't I?" he asks no one in particular as he surveys his shrapnel wounds.

Cough
"Shiny blade! Me likey. Gimme?"
He pauses for a second, tilting his head sideways and adds with a wide grin:
"Maybe take fire from torch Cinder? Not try to put torch in pipe though, that's awkward. I know awkward."

Cinder looks at the torch then at his pipe, unsure how to work that. "You want this sword, goblin? Well, you escort me to that mausoleum over there and its yours. There are dead things about, and I don't like my chances alone."

Strux takes a shocked expression;
"How rude! The goblin has a name hooman! It's Strux by the way; don't wear it out."
He turns to his companions;
"I'm in for the shiny; perhaps more shiny things in mawsoleum. Wanna go? He looks tasty enough if there are no shinies in there, just saying..." he whispers.

"We should check out this tomb that the creatures were guarding first." Ash insists. "We were planning on storming that mausoleum anyway eventually." He shrugs.

"Why are you even walking this damned place alone?" Hermod asks the stranger. "Like you say, there are dead things about." a short pause and an inquisitive look "What are your interest in the Mausoleum?"

Insight checks would be appropriate here.

Viv eyes the stranger with suspicion, eager to keep moving and finding something valuable to plunder. Hermod had the right of it. What was this pipe-smoking dude wandering around in this necropolis alone from the go?

"We are here for loot so let's go find some ... uh but after someone takes a look at me to makes sure I'm not gonna lose all my blood. I'd hate to die in front of a pile of gold!"

As he ask the question, Hermod is wondering why the stranger is here. But he can't really guess why.

"Better to die on a pile of gold than a pile of shit." Ash replies to the bloodied Pike. "Your'e a mess."

"The mausoleum is where all of the best things are. The treasures of the nobles, if only you have the bodies to excavate it. I've been looking for some ... one ... to help me break in."

Pike figures that despite knowing they might be sorry, there's a chance they can keep a close enough eye on this Cinder before he turns on them if that's his intent which seems likely. Or they could just turn on him and kill him. He looks at the others to see if he can catch a glimpse of their intentions and tries to nod a no, he's not trustworthy when Cinder isn't looking.

"Uh someone give me few scraps of cloth will ya? Aw hell I'll just staunch the flow with some dirt." Bending down slowly, he scratches around on the ground and applies a few small piles to his wounds.