In addition to their duties as warriors, Powers also exercise  certain intellectual  duties. While Variel is every bit as intellectually-inclined as any other specimen of his kind, he showed a greater inclination towards his martial duties than he did towards his contempative ones.

 

As such, Variel set aside a brief bout of reluctance and jumped at the opportunity to take on what amounted to "deep undercover" work of the Celestial variety. He has been in his present "posting" for just over four centuries, living as a human being and effectively passing on his essence through his lineage. For the last eleven generations stretching back to a surprise birth in the Dutch noble house of vaan Rhyn, the first-born of each generation has been a male child who received the name Pieter.

 

"Life" on Earth

 

Variel has eons of "life experience" as one of his kind, and some four centuries of experience posing as a human being. The fact that said experience is not always made apparent to observers is, of course, a detail of his cover.

 

Contrary to appearances, Variel was not banished from Paradise; neither in the aftermath of the Rebellion nor subsequently. As he himself might put it, he hasn't fallen – yet. Instead, in the manner of an intelligence agent keeping a posting among a foreign populace for the benefit of his sponsor, Variel acts as the eyes and ears of the Giver wherever he happens to be.

 

Having these duties requires camouflage-of-sorts, and like those who came before and have come since, Variel has maintained a number of covers over the course of his time on Earth. Celestials tend to engage actively in their covers, since the duties that have brought them to Earth are intermittent. Variel has not been an exception, but that is probably where the similarities end. To the consternation of some of his Siblings and the amusement of others, he counts "soldier" and "pirate" among past covers, alongside more mundane ones like "pioneer" and "laborer." 

 

Currently, Variel has taken on the guise of a star of the adult film screen. Of course, this provided the biggest shock of all to some of his Siblings. Still, others were shocked it had taken as long as it did.

 

 

Two Become One . . .

 

Pieter gets into his share of trouble, because Variel knows The Giver will look the other way on some things for Her best and most faithful operatives. His check isn't blank, but it will pay for a lot of indulgences.

 

Pieter is something of an amoral libertarian, because even though the Giver doesn't really grade on a curve, Variel knows She does give credit for trying to do the right thing. (Incidentally, the road to Hell isn't paved with good intentions – it's paved with bad intentions. But even after you build a road to Paradise with good intentions, you still have to make the journey through your own efforts.)

 

If he were inclined to pick, Pieter would probably be a Buddhist or a Taoist, because Variel knows the Giver doesn't care about the shape of your religious symbol.

 

Pieter can play at being a blockhead, because Variel isn't one.