Abnaxus is the Venar ambassador to the Ayrede Council, and keeper of their piece of the Stone Disk. Like all Venar, Abnaxus sees all times as one, which can make things a little confusing, as April Ryan discovers when she first meets him in the Journeyman Inn during the Festival of the Balance. He doesn't exactly invite her to visit him in the morning, because according to him, she already accepted the invitation a while ago. Abnaxus holds his rank as ambassador because he, alone among his people, can focus on one particular moment and therefore talk with people who "flow with time".

He has a wife named Abyanda, and three daughters: Abratha, Abelexe and Abpalmana. While his true home is north of the Border Mountains, during his time in Marcuria, Abnaxus lives in the City Green of Marcuria in an interesting house. Either it is a house built in the shape of a tree, or a tree which has been built over with stone.

Abnaxus is voiced by Jeff Meller.

Bookshelf

Abnaxus also has quite an eclectic collection of books, including:

• Ruminations on the Chaos Principle, by Ror Agastanja
• The Death of a Venar, by Ge'le
• A Brief History of the Northlands, by Minstrum Lenyer
• The Psychology of Stickmen, by G. Godager
• Principles of Waging a Winning War Against Superior Forces, by General Hen Solber
• Surviving the Border Mountains, by Tomi Strande, and even
• The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The old website for The Longest Journey had Abnaxus describe the Venar, the veil and the coming of the Kan-ang-la:

"No, friend, I am not. For she will come."

"I am Abnaxus of the Venar. I am an ambassador to the land of Ayrede, and the city of Marcuria has been my home now for…a time. How long? I do not know, friend. My people do not know of time. We do not live in the now. We live in the always."

"Farewell."

"No, do not be confused. To speak to you is oftentimes a difficult task for me, for I may answer questions not yet asked, or questions asked a time ago. To even make myself understood demands greatly of me, and it is a skill acquired by study. I am the only one of my people to speak with outsiders. For the others it is too difficult, and they may reveal your future yet to be, or a future that will never be, or a past hidden by chance or choice. To speak with my people is to enter the true mind of the Venar, and for outsiders, that may not be a pleasant experience."

"There is a veil in our path, however; a veil I cannot see past. We exist to that point, and at all points previous, but not beyond. For us, this sense of the unknown is like losing our sight. We are blinded. But we know of one person who is to lead us through the veil, to the other side. The Lady will one day unite the worlds, she will be the mother of a new world -- but first, she will lead us through the veil. "

"Am I afraid?"

"We are of trees, friend, and trees are of us. We plant the trees, and we care for them, and the trees care for us in return. A tree grows over time, yet it has always been there, and it always will be. And any moment is an eternity. Any moment is a lifetime. Do we die? I am dead, in this moment. I am born, in this moment. Any moment is all moments."

"You wish to go?"

"No, friend, I am not. For she will come."

Trivia

It is likely the character of Abnaxus was also heavily influenced by Treebeard in The Lord of The Rings, a sentient tree who has trouble adjusting to the short attention span of mortals.

According to Ragnar Tornquist, Abnaxus was originally intended to reappear in Dreamfall, "left in a very bewildered and tragic state following the events of TLJ [...] Dreamfall was always a darker and more tragic story, and there were few happy endings". Concept art and even an in-game model were created for him, but his role in Dreamfall's events was eventually cut as they would better fit another game. In the concept art Abnaxus can be clearly seen wearing an amulet that strongly resembles the Talisman of the Balance.

Ragnar once joked about a possible cook book by Abnaxus: ‘Through the Veil: Cooking With Hindsight, or I’ll Never Burn Another Dish Again’.