Black Nile Saga

There was Kushara before the Luo paddled Nam Lolwe, before the Maasai crossed the southern plains, and before the Kalenjin raised their hearths under the Elgon massif.Avar-Kush was an empire of gold, prophecy and ancient power that stood along the great river. The Black Pharaoh, Ruma II, was his king at the heart, who was enslaved by the enigmatic juogi, the spirit-warriors that tread the worlds of man, beast, shadow and stone. His queen, Mikai, and his three brothers Nyikang'o, Kole, and Kerio, warriors bound by blood and oath stood beside him.Yet the greatest kingdoms are seldom overthrown by their adversaries from the outside.At the time of succession, the royal family splits into four brothers, four armies. The throne is turned into a battlefield, the palace is turned into a prison, the river that fed a civilization is turned into a witness to betrayal. Not against invaders, but against their own family, the juogi — Akech the serpent spirit, Kipkorir the stone warrior, and Okoth the shadow-winged hunter — are unleashed.Nyikang'o is looking for a kingdom of wisdom. Kole leads armies and he has ambition. Kerio has been burdened with old wounds and a long forgotten grievance. As the last Black Pharaoh, Ruma  II is burdened with the weight of a power that makes him almost unstoppable, but makes him feel more alone than any Pharaoh before him.There is no winner in the war for Kushara. It concludes with a scattering.The Great Exodus transports the children of Ruma through the Rift, the highlands, the plains, and the lake. The ashes of one empire are followed by another, and each new people brings a piece of the lost crown, and a memory of a kingdom once united.The Black Nile saga is an epic story of brotherhood, betrayal, empire and the cost of power, one throne, four brothers, a river whose blood has flowed through generations.