In the beginning there were Four Muses - eternal beings that had the ability to create substance from nothing. Working together the Muses created the universe and - primarily - Harmundia. Seeking perfection they created many life-forms until they finally create a new Eternal. The Masque. And that is about where everything goes crazy.

AGONE is set several millennia later, the Muses little more than a vague memory to most, and Harmundia is split into several kingdoms. Secretly manipulating these kingdoms is The Enemy - the combined forces of the Masque and his ally The Darken. Players are Inspired, high ranking personages within the world who have been gifted with a fragment of the banished Muses. Guided by the secretive order of the Eminences Grises, the Inspired must fight a secret war against The Enemy to protect Harmundia from the Masque's plans to rule all the universe as a puppet-master of some elaborate and grotesque eternal play.

A part of this war seems to involve the search for the lost ladies of the Seasons - creators of the Seasonling races. These races are the dwarfs, giants, medusae, sprites, minotaurs etc. - all of which are playable races. (Although the three children of Autumn/Fall are not allowed due to their allegiances to The Enemy.) Another part involves the mystery surrounding the enigmatic Agone of Roundrock, a powerful figure who is somehow linked to the Eminences Grises.

This is only the beginning of the complexities of the setting. There is a lot happening in the world of Harmundia, and while the main book only offers a glance of the bigger picture, it manages to do so with a more wider scope than most epic games do.