Rebirth of the League of Desmond

For a millennium, the League of Desmond vanished. After the destruction of the Mycenaean culture in which it first flourished, the League perished, remembered only in Homer's histories. In 365 BC, however, a young king, Philip II of Macedon, felt the need to inspire martial fervor in his followers, to further his expansionist aims. To this end, he turned to an established martial society, with an immense weight of history and prestige behind it - the League of Desmond. In this incarnation, Philip II was the first initiate, and his generals and elite troops soon followed.

The League of Desmond under King Philip II was an ultranationalistic, ultramartial organization. It prized valor and loyalty above all other traits, and members who possessed these characteristics were praised and elevated above their comrades - a means of limited social advancement in an otherwise largely static class structure. To some degree, this freedom provided by the League of Desmond can be seen even today. Members of the League, though differing in age, race, and academic prowess, have the chance to interact on an equal footing within the League.

The League remained thus under Philip II, building up a generation of tradition and valor under that king. It flourished as the king built an unprecedented alliance of Greek states (with Macedon as leader) and launched an invasion of Persia, Greece's traditional enemy. When King Philip II was assassinated in 336 BC for reasons unknown, the League of Desmond was able to smoothly transfer its fealty to Macedon's new king: Alexander.

Alexander moved swiftly once crowned, brutally eliminating potential competitors for the throne and continuing his father's invasion of Persia. He won victory after victory; conquering all of Persia and dethroning its emperor, marching south to conquer ancient Egypt and then east to take Babylon and western India. In all of this, the League of Desmond served him loyally, acting as his right hand. It was said of Alexander that he would trust no man as bodyguard nor as general but a member of the League.

Under Alexander, the League of Desmond achieved a dispersion such as it never had before. From Athens to Babylon to Nicaea, the League was known as a tool of Empire. That dispersion granted it immunity to the fate its last incarnation had suffered; such that even on Alexander's untimely death and the fragmentation of his empire, the League of Desmond survived, though fragmented and diminished in its own right.