Screenplay Overview
“The Peak of Equanimity”
The first two pages of the Screenplay:
Character Descriptions
Afi (Antagonist, the scheming villainess)
Afi was exotic looking, dark-skinned and statuesque. Jealous, treacherous, vain, and power hungry. She can never age, as long as she stays inside the mystical Forest. Afi’s vanity was so great that it extended to every branch and twig, thus awakening the lust of the Forest. It was in Afi’s moment of need that the Forest gained consciousness and a pact between them was forged!
Having lived 125 self-indulgent years and commanding the Forest like a slave, led to delusions of grandeur. Her thirst for the adulation of man grew uncontrollable. As a result, her vanity demanded that she be worshipped by the Axumites, as a goddess!
She cast a spell and Seduced Equanimeous’ father Bembe as she conspired to rule Axum. She also happens to be the blood mother of Equanimeous. Since she was never chosen as a Pharaoh (Busu Faso’s) bride, she made sure every wife met an untimely fate. She placed a curse on every pharaoh’s wife (The Curse of the Pharaoh). Aware that she could never venture out of the Forest safely for long, the resentful Afi cursed Busu Faso and every heir to the throne thereafter. The hateful Afi has used the mystifying powers of the Forest to command dozens of poisonous snakes to slither toward the city to ensure that every bride in the succession of the Pharaohs of Axum meet an untimely death!
Equanimeous (Protagonist & the Pharaoh of Axum )
The main character on a quest to destroy the Curse of Axum. Handsome, charismatic, and walked with an unmistakable gait of royalty. Shaved head and had a muscular 6-foot frame which accented his light brownish skin. He is 29 years old and is said to be the spitting image of his father, Bembe. Known for being an eloquent orator
Equanimeous
Emongongu (the desert hermit)
A bizarre looking, dark-skinned man with a crazed look in his eyes. A most formidable figure was he, sprouting a lion’s mane of dread-locked hair, resting upon broad shoulders. Numerous lines were deeply embedded deep in his face reflecting years of exposure to the scorching sun.
Manu (General of Axum & close friend to Equanimeous)
A black-skinned 6’5” monster of a man, Battle-scarred and ever-ready for combat.
Baruti (witch doctor from the neighboring tribe of Nzambi)
A slender brown-skinned youth that is extremely charismatic. He dons long hair, which is meticulously cornrowed, and always wears a large brown robe. His eyes appear to be in a continual trance-like state. Like the witchdoctors of the past, Baruti is never seen without his tall scepter, which he uses to invoke his magic. But his most enigmatic feature, is the tattoo of a white tiger he bears on his left forearm.
Ga Wree Wree (the wise mountain ascetic)
A tall, thin, humped-back figure adorned in a monk’s cowl. Although clearly humanoid in form, its mystifying presence was accentuated by a hood that extended out so far that its face was covered in darkness. Spoke in a quaking high-pitched voice, like that of an elderly man.
The Sorceress (the levitating High Priestess for the Bambara tribe that loves Axumite coffee)
She was bundled in faded, worn-out garments, which covered her ashy black skin. Her dread-locked hair was wildly disarrayed, nearly hiding her face. Only her eyes could be discerned, which were rolled back exposing the white undersides, like one blinded.
Sentinel Here & Sentinel There (twin guardians of the Bridge of Possibility)
