"And... Action!" A voice says. 

Elrond stands in the middle of the council, his hands outstretched as if he's just finished saying something incredibly important. 

"One of you must do this," he says gravely. A moment of heavy silence follows before Boromir, a nobleman from Gondor, begins to speak. 

"One does not simply walk into-" He stops suddenly as a distant rumble begins to shake the ground. He shrugs after another moment and begins again, raising his hand in classic meme format. 

"One does not simply-" His voice is drowned out completely as a massive horde of authors crashes through the door, knocking the dwarves from their seats and forcing Legolas to look into the sky and say, "I hear a distant thunder, like that of a hundred horses!" Nobody hears him.

Elrond springs into action, desperately attempting to hold off the army of excited writers. " No indeed, it is hardly possible to separate you even when he is summoned to a secret council and you are not!" 

He awkwardly glances back at the camera as he bravely tries to stick to the script. Samwise scurries out of the bushes, thinking that he missed his cue.  "Heh!" He grunts in an attempt at a West Country accent. "Mr. Frodo is not goin' anywhere without me!"

Elrond looks back and forth, flustered at what's taking place. He starts cursing in Elvish. 

Caledorn, the dark-clad elf from the previous scene, leaps from a random pillar and executes a flawless superhero landing in the middle of the chairs. "Silence, all of you!" He exclaims, his tone commanding. Elrond wipes the sweat from his brow in relief and sits back down, while the Hobbits find folding chairs for the numerous authors who have gathered. 

After the room is completely silent (mostly because of Caledorn's intense glaring), he begins.

"All of this 'One Ring' business is important and all, but now we must turn to the real task at hand," Caledorn says measuredly, placing a massive book on top the pedestal that just happens to knock the Ring onto the ground, where it rolls into a small crevice and is never spoken of again. 

"This book sets forth the rules of this Contest," he explains, turning through its musty pages. "Are you paying attention now?" He asks, looking right at the screen.  "Because I saw you skimming." 

"Rule 1: The submitted work must be original to this Contest, and cannot have been written beforehand. 

Rule 2: There is no length requirement. Your submission may be as short or as long as you wish it to be. However, an ideal length is around 2000 words, and submissions deviating from that too much will likely need to be particularly good to stand out. 

Rule 3: You may use canonical characters as well as OCs..." At this, Caledorn sniffs slightly. "That means original characters. I don't read fanfiction, I just happen to know these things. 

Rule 4: Stories must be set in the Second Age, Third Age, or Fourth Age. Certain locations will cater better to specific eras, so make sure you do the research. 

Rule 5: You are allowed to deviate from the canon if it makes logical sense. For example, you can be creative with the culture of a lesser-known area like Forochel, but don't arbitrarily decide that an elf named Helen decided to destroy the One Ring all by herself." He looks at the page again and squints. "Helen?? Valar spare me.

Rule 6: Have fun! Even if you don't win, know that you contributed to the Lord of the Rings fanfiction community and have likely furthered your own writing skills as a result!" He purses his lips. "How can one 'have fun' if they do not win?" 

Elrond makes a cutting motion across his neck, and Caledorn clears his throat. "Right. Have fun." It's apparent from his monotone voice and his unenthused expression that he doesn't agree with this rule. 

Samwise slowly stands, drawing the stares of everyone present. "Hey, can I write something? That'd be pretty neat. Like, maybe about Frodo or something." 

Caledorn shakes his head grimly. "I feel like having a character write a story would cause some sort of interdimensional rift that might somehow tear reality in twain, forcing the modern world into a desperate war with the forces of Sauron. So no." He raises his eyebrow curiously. "Why do you no longer have an accent?" 

Sam crosses his arms. "I'm American, okay?? I was told to do this accent, mister Caledorn sir," At the end he mockingly switches back to his accent. 

Caledorn rolls his eyes. "Hobbits."

END SCENE

So, them's the rules! I'll reiterate them below in case you didn't read that mindless jumble of script. 

Rule 1: The submitted work must be original to this Contest, and cannot have been written beforehand.

Rule 2: There is no length requirement. Your submission may be as short or as long as you wish it to be. However, an ideal length is around 2000 words, and submissions deviating from that too much will likely need to be particularly good to stand out (Particularly in the case of shorter entries).

Rule 3: You may use canonical characters as well as OCs(Original Characters)

Rule 4: Stories must be set in the Second Age, Third Age, or Fourth Age. Certain locations will cater better to specific eras, so make sure you do the research.

Rule 5: You are allowed to deviate from the canon if it makes logical sense. For example, you can be creative with the culture of a lesser known area like Harad, but don't arbitrarily decide that an elf named Helen decided to destroy the One Ring all by herself (basically, don't mess with the plot of the canonical works and you'll be fine!)

Rule 7: Have fun! Even if you don't win, know that you contributed to the Lord of the Rings fanfiction community and have likely furthered your own writing skills as a result!

STEPS TO SUBMITTING:

Step 1: Write the story (as if that weren't obvious)

Step 2: Tag @Silvan_Elleth  and @GerithorDunedain (myself) in the story.

Step 3: Publish it into a NEW BOOK (Don't add it to a tag book or One-shot book, it'll probably get buried like that XD )

Note from @Silvan_Elleth: "You can always post the story without a cover if you don't want to make one and then move it into a random or target book when the contest is over." 

She's the detail person in this relationship. XD

Step 4: Comment in the chapter of this book called "Round (Round Number) Submissions" With the name of your book as well as your username. 

Step 5 (Optional): Make a nice cover for your book, as there might be a completely separate Best Cover Award.

You'll know I received your submission if I add it to my reading list "Contest Entries." 

Keep an eye out for the first round soon!