It fit perfectly, even making a faint clicking sound as the edges met all along the cylinder, with a slightly huff Erika turned the key… turned the key… Erika tried to turn to the key.

Throwing her weight into it Erika huffed and puffed and, after a moment, staggered backwards waving her throbbing hands in the air till the pain faded.

“Damn things stuck solid!” Erika snarled.

“Or it was just made for jotun to open?” Gunhilda said with a smile, Erika shot her a look that could kill before smiling up at Kara who was fussing over her hands.

“Stand back little ones, I’ve got this!” Laudon crowed with surprising energy, a moment later Erika realised why when he pulled his shirt off and started posing for the crowd before squaring up with the key. Grabbing the handle Laudon pivoted his entire body to the side in a triumphant lunge and then… he froze. Stuck in place his muscles began to bulge and sweat began to bead on his skin as he strained again the ancient mechanism until a faint grinding began to echo through the walls, becoming louder and louder until the tunnel seemed to shake.

A final deafening snap rung out as the ancient lock clicked open, this obviously surprised Laudon who was still putting his entire strength into turning it as he jumped lunged and stumbled all at once sideway across the hall and landed in a heap same moment that Laudon flew across the hallway and landed in a heap, the key vanishing inwards now that it had served its purpose.

Laudon stood up and posed again. “I have strength!” He howled to a few cheers and whistles from the assembled delvers.

“He didn’t open it?” Erika muttered.

“Let him dream.” Kara whispered back making the vitki smile.

Letting Luadon have his moment in the sun Erika stepped past the celebration and poked at the wall, even throwing her shoulder into the shove resulted in nothing at all, not even the slightest motion. Erika new she was weak for a human let alone a jotun and yes, the key had been impossible to turn but if it opened inwards, she was sure she’d have felt something.

Walking along the wall she began to feel out the edges which got much easier when she noticed that they coincided perfectly with the width of this piece of wall art, there were dozens of distinct art pieces along the halls walls with what Erika guessed was a jotuns width of blank stone between them, this one looked like it depicted a… fish Jumping out of a lake trailing water from its fins… or maybe an elk in the middle of rotting… or maybe the jotun who had made this was just a drunk Erika honestly couldn’t tell and dint much care.

The darkened dimples of what must once have been paint still had the faintest hint of orange that spoke of once vibrant reds when the painting had been fresh, was that perhaps a clue to opening it? Or was the mechanism just seized up like the lock had been?