#greenwood headcanons
There’s a rumor that’s less of a rumor but more of a stretched fact that some sort of horrible River Monster lurking in the rivers of Mirkwood.
Many visitors claim to have seen it, as they stare desperately into the depths of the surprisingly deep waters. Occasionally it’s said that the great creature will leap up on some unsuspecting thing coming to the waters edge for a drink. Finding themselves snapped nearly in half by a powerful set of jaws quicker than they could blink
But for something so large, the creature is fast. Extremely fast. So while many people say they have seen the great beast, the do not know what it is.
Some say it’s some sort of old and forgotten water dragon, content to lay in its murky depths and ignore the world.
Some say its a different form of hideous beast that doesn’t have a name, but even if it did few would dare utter it for fear of summoning the great creature.
Some even whisper that it was some kind of evil creation sent from the poisoned walls of the old fortress.
The men of Laketown have the most stories of the massive, mysterious beast for sometimes it leaves the fast flowing rivers for the calmer waters of the Lake.
Even the Men can feel the shift energy in the waters beneath their feet, as the fish draw away quickly to hiding places unknown to any that don’t have gills. Children stand on the roofs of their houses eagerly searching for a glimpse of it, while the adults continue to try and convince themselves ita all just stories. For their own peace of mind if nothing else.
For none know the identity of the horrible river monster except for the woodelves that share a forest with it. Woodelves that could be persuaded to take a young inquisitive ranger to meet the creature of myth as long as he promised to keep the information within the confines of of mind.
Even the elves of Imladris has begun to whisper to one another about this powerful water creature, and Aragorn could not suppress his smile at listening to his own brothers debate the issue between them.
Knowing it was not some sort of dragon or a creature created and formed in darkness, but something much different:
Snip-Snap, the massive vegetarian Snapping Turtle who enjoys neck scratches, elvish music, blowing bubbles out of her nose, and trying to jump out and scare her elvish friends.
Whenever it’s reasonably feasible Thranduil always has Avaleina greet the elven visitors at their border, especially if it’s a Noldor elf, and not because he thinks she will always do the best job at being the ambassador between different peoples.
It’s because with her short stature, dark complexion, green eyes, and multiple tattoos Avaleina couldn’t physically look any more ‘Silvan’ unless she wrote “Hello, I’m a Silvan Elf,” onto her forehead. She also has a negative ninety-seven percent chance/intention of purposefully changing her mannerisms, personality, accent, or general presentation to appar less ‘Silvan’ for any reason.
Especially if the visiting Elves show any signs of disdain or judgment.
The reason this is important is that Thranduil likes to know how other elves treat his Silvan Elves when there’s nobody ‘equal or better’ around to see it. He likes to know their reactions to having to listen to every syllable commanded by a Silvan elf. He needs to know if they feel disrespected that it was ‘only’ her that was there to greet them, and it wansn’t at least Farlen (who is a Sindar elf) regardless of the fact that Legolas, Farlen, and Avaleina are essentially equal and interchangeable in the overall chain of command in Greenwood.
Thranduil wants to know each and every underhanded comment their visitors might make, or be pleasantly surprised by genuine respect for Avaleina and the rest of the Silvan people.
Avaleina is also probably one of the only elves that would send any visitor packing back to the border of the forest regardless of who or what they are outside of the forest if she feels their disrespect is enough to warrant such an action. She’s essentially a bigotry and superiotority sniffing bloodhound that filters out all the elves that Thranduil probably wouldn’t have the patience to deal with anyways.
Ava has 100% sent Celeborn and his escort back to the border because of something one of the warriors said and didn’t allow Celeborn back into the forest until he agreed to leave that warrior behind. One time she sent Elladan and Elrohir back to the forest edge four entire times before they finally learned their lesson.
She’s basically the Sphinx of Greenwood and you have to answer her riddles correctly to even step foot into the forest and especially to make it all the way to the stronghold.
