SYNOPSIS:

Centuries ago, Obong Emem Eyo-Iboku, the revered king of Obutong, struggles to choose an heir from his three sons: Ekpeyong, Iyke, and Elemi. To reveal their true natures, his advisor Edidem Afia — known as Master White — sends the princes to the cursed endlands of Nsim-Nson to slay the Phoenix, a mythic bird said to rise from its own ashes. The brothers cross hostile kingdoms but are torn apart when their boat capsizes. Each returns to Obutong changed. Impressed by Elemi’s reverence for the Supreme Being, the king names him successor. Elemi stuns the court by rejecting the throne, believing power will corrupt him — a choice that earns the devotion of his lover, Ini., while yke ascends instead. One year into his reign, Adaeze, Iyke’s former lover, arrives in Obutong with his secret child which ignites Ekpeyong’s ambition, and he raises a rebellion against the king. With civil war threatening to consume Obutong, Elemi begs his brothers to choose peace. When they refuse, he risks everything on a final, desperate gambit to save the kingdom and also keep his brothers alive.