"These dancers are here not for their own enjoyment, but for the...aesthetic appreciation...of the guests." 

Blink blink blink. 

She looks at the dancers. She looks at him. She looks over her shoulder at Lann. She looks back at the Count. 

"...That makes no sense," she says, perplexed. "You," she points at him, "and my friend Lann there," she jerks her thumb back, "are both much prettier with your clothes on than any of those people are in less?" 

Wait, she thinks he's pretty? What? Does she need her eyes checked???

The count laughs. 

"While I'm gratified to hear you say so, I'm afraid my duties as host leave me too busy to join the entertainers in such a manner, not that it isn't a novel thought."

She still doesn't really understand but it's...probably not important. 

"Okay. I'm Lusilla, by the way. And that's Seelah, and Nenio, and Woljif, and Camellia." She already told him Lann's name. 

He raises an eyebrow. "You cannot possibly imagine I'll bother to remember all those names." 

"Well, if you don't, that's on you and not on me, since I said 'em." 

"Now that we've finished with the niceties, tell me this: how did these thrice-damned demons end up at my soiree?" 

"...Are you looking for an answer on the level of 'they broke in through a locked door,' 'Deskari showed up, threw the Wardstone, and led demons into the whole city,' or 'the Worldwound exists,' like, I assume you're familiar with that last one on account of living here? But I am from a tiny village in Iobaria and was not in fact aware of it before yesterday." 

"What an eventful day it must have been. I'd almost consider it worth it, living in a charming little village with the luxury to ignore the Crusades...except, no, I wouldn't." 

"It was kind of a lot, yeah! I still don't actually know if the demons kidnapped me yesterday or if I spent a long time unconscious, but one minute I'm romping through the woods looking for useful plants and the next I'm waking up with a weird injury and learning that the Worldwound exists because Deskari flew out of it to decapitate Terendelev and knock me into the tunnels beneath Kenabres where the descendants of the First Crusaders," she nods her head at Lann, "need help cleaning out a nest of Baphomet cultists that have kidnapped some of their children." 

"Bardworthy." 

"I do try." 

If Deskari shows up, and the good guys don't even a little bit make for a good story, that seems probably bad in terms of predicted outcomes! 

"Hey, Horgus Gwerm gave me money for dragging him out of a chasm in the earth, do I get a reward for rescuing you too?"

Snort. "Why not." He pulls a ring off his finger and tosses it to her. 

Lusilla catches it. Oooooh, shiny. Coins are objectively more useful but her brain is more hardwired to perk up at Shiny Wearable Object. 

"On a genuinely unrelated note, your house, uh, has some holes in it and seems like it was not ideal amounts of defensible even before that. You should probably go to the Defender's Heart, that's where all the paladins and other people who can fight are, and we've got a lot of civilians stashed there too." 

"I thank you for the invitation, but I am not quite as desperate as I may seem. At times, it is better to be surrounded by the repugnant mugs of demons than the sour and dour physiognomies of Iomedae's righteous paladins." 

"What about my physiognomy? Sour enough for his lordship? Don't worry, a few minutes with the dazzling count here and it will sour like week-old milk." 

Lusilla claps her hands over her mouth in attempt to be slightly more discreet about her giggling. Seelah is great!

"What's this? An attractive paladin with a sense of humor? You're a veritable walking scandal." 

Lusilla draws her shoulders back and wags a finger at him. "I assume you're joking, but you should be aware, Seelah is the best. I hadn't even heard of Iomedae before yesterday, and knowing that she's who Seelah is a paladin of makes me think she's gotta be pretty cool." 

He raises an eyebrow. "I envy the lack of experience that allows you to think so. You'll learn better."

Eh. He has yet to impress her a fraction as much as Seelah, so.

"As it happens, though...I feel like stretching my legs. I have some little healing, I am no friend to demons, and I elevate any society that I deign to grace with my presence. I shall accompany you--only for a short time, of course. I have no desire to remain at the vanguard for a protracted period. What say you, my unusually pentapodal acquaintance? After all, Deskari spoiled my party; I find myself inclined to spoil his."

Lusilla glances at the others.

"I don't like this guy much. I'm not saying I think he's a demon in disguise, but..."