Tell the true story

You lean forwards against your mount's neck a little, moving one hand about to liven up your tale, accentuating it with your gestures.

"So there I was, a poor lad much like any other peasant, doing the odd jobs here and there, and pickpocketting spare change - and full purses - for some extra cash. I was pretty good at it, still am. Must've been ten years ago by now.

And then one day I was walking home through the forest, close to sunset, and I kinda got turned around and got lost and wandered down a wrong path and that led me to this isolated hut. I saw light coming from inside. So I was about to walk up to knock on the door to ask for directions when I got a peek through one of the windows.

Inside I saw this beautiful lady combing her hair. She was gorgeous. Long red curls, a multi-colored silken gown, cherry-red lips, voluptuou-"

"Get to the point" Evellyn interrupts

"Right. So after I noticed her I also noticed this jewelrybox of hers on the nightstand, bursting with shiny stuff. I was just a poor man, I couldn't let such an opportunity pass by. And she surely wouldn't notice one or two gems missing from a whole pile of them. So I distracted her with a knock on the door and quickly snuck over to the window above the stand and reached in, grabbed a handful and fled."

"So you got the ability from one of those gems?"

"Hang on, hang on, the story's not done yet. I began to flee but I was caught! I heard what must've been a spell being cast and suddenly vines burst out of the ground and grabbed me, holding me tightly, and the lady came out and retrieved her gems. The vines crumbled and I.. think she was planning to just let me go after she spat 'piss off thief' at me, but then she caught me taking too long a look at her cleavage, 'cause her robe was sliding open slightly you see.

She got really angry and yelled 'vile, impudent wretch! May your life be fleeting!' A burst of magic flowed out, but nothing seemed to happen until I noticed everything stood still - time stood still, or at least that is what it looked like to me - until I began to focus on it, and time slowly began to resume again, in fits and starts. She must've used the wrong spell when she said 'fleeting', because that didn't quite pan out the way she'd meant. Translation errors in the spell perhaps? It took me a while to get a proper hang of the power, but now I can do it effortlessly."

"So.. You're cursed by a witch."

"Most definitively so."

"So what happened then?"

"Oh I managed to stop everything again and then I just robbed her blind and took her clothes."

"Why am I not surprised."

"Well I can tell you she didn't expect that at all. She was so embarrassed she was too busy trying to cover herself to cast another spell at me."