SPOILER ALERT!!! TURN BACK NOW!!!

First off, i'd like to say hello to everyone here. I've been sifting through the forums for a while, but since the meaning of the symbolism in the void was bugging me I finally decided to get involved. Hopefully you guys can help me and vice versa, as there seems to be a pretty dedicated fanbase to The Void (i'm looking at you Throdax...) and the constructiveness of this forum is amazing.

First Question:

Who is the "angel" that we hear about later on in the game? Is this a being from the 3rd limit, fallen into the void? (0 being the nightmare, 1 the void, 2 the universe, 3...something else?) Ole seems to have no idea who she is, and the brothers don't know about her...At one point she says that there's not enough color for her to ascend, which can only be true if she has to ascend further than earth. Why put her in at all, then, if you can never help her?

I remember Ole saying something about the angel being lost and afraid, and thought "hey, maybe if I give color to the piano near the window the spirit outside will hear it and come to me....and I can give her color...or something..." but nope. Anyone else found some sort of use to the piano other than just playing a bit of music? I know that there was a "both" ending in the russian version which wasn't in mine (the steam version), was this how you got it?

Second Question:

Who is the sleeper and where do voids come from? They say that the sleeper is the one who lost you...I think. Why is someone losing you mentioned so much? Is it because that "someone" is your previous self, that the real you lost your soul?...but then again you're supposed to be dead so i'm not sure. It seems that the sleeper is the void itself though, because by bringing death to the void you're also bringing death to the sleeper.

So where did the void(s) come from in the first place? It can't be something created by a soul, since souls can't create voids and you would have been screwed had you not been saved by sister. I get it that they're how life is born into the world, but if everyone is using up voids and throwing them into the nightmare, wouldn't we have run out of them before our protagonist dies? Seeing as he lived in modern times, many others died before him and they would have drained the other voids long before he fell down there.

Third Question:

Are you really dead in reality? Or are you in a coma or something, the life draining out of you? or maybe in a courtroom somewhere? Obviously if the "someone who lost you" was your previous self, and you are a soul, is it like the flesh-and-blood you committed some evil deeds and your soul lost its way?

Food for thought:

Geography seems to be pretty important in the void. The more ^ you go the closer you get to the surface, and life, whilst the further V you go the closer you are to death (ffs, the sister is named death!) This much we can all agree on.

But what about water and night and land and day? The chambers on the entire left side of the void are water or night-themed (Yani's garden Hull, una's garden Moorage, uta's chamber is an island with a rowboat...) , while the right side is more land, daylight, civilization based (Ava's bastion, Ima's bridge, Eli's blimp). And if you listen to Ole's end poem and Yani's end poem, you get the feeling that Ole was the right choice, what with the seeing the dreams and knowing the names and all.

Anyway, I hope that wasn't too long-winded for my first post. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated

I think it's about time we figured out more than just how to grow a garden and draw a donor glyph, and with your help I think we can wake the sleeper, see the dreams, know the names, play the piano, make a few voids and maybe figure out how to catch an angel?

The most common explanation is given from the following point of view. The game may be considered a metaphor of the person who failed to "live" his real, colourful and productive life, and now is in struggle of making his way out of inactive, stagnant state. His soul has fallend into the Void. It has not yet died, but it is going to if you don't do something quickly. So the main character is your impersonation in the world of your desires and fears, the Sisters become your dreams of what you might do, your possible souls, and the Brothers are what you are afraid of, which keeps you in this state.
Your "death" at the beginning is merely a way to quickly explain what happened (i.e. to a new player who just started a new game). It doesn't necessarily mean that you have really died or commited suicide.

So where did the void(s) come from in the first place? It can't be something created by a soul, since souls can't create voids and you would have been screwed had you not been saved by sister. I get it that they're how life is born into the world, but if everyone is using up voids and throwing them into the nightmare, wouldn't we have run out of them before our protagonist dies? Seeing as he lived in modern times, many others died before him and they would have drained the other voids long before he fell down there.
Surprisingly, it is pure coincidence, I haven't even noticed that. The whole thing was totally practical. The point was to evenly distribute the most nice looking chambers between the parts of the Void, otherwise it might become boring to play, like, 10 cycles and only get so-so new locations. As for the girls themselves, there was a certain contraposition amongst them. "Hot" mistress Ava is the opposite of "Cold" mistress Una. Ole and Yani are similar in their proximity to "reality", but are different in their percetion of this "new" world. Una's "fury" is contrasted by Eli's "practical and strategic approach".
Speculations on night themes are definitely not a good guess, because the theme of night, sleep, and death runs through the entire world of the Void. Brighter levels are exceptions in this dark and unpleasant place.

Thanks a lot! I had never really thought of those contrasts between the sisters before in that way. It's a bit disappointing that the levels weren't meant to contrast the others in setting, but it doesn't ruin the effect for others since I won't tell anyone, promise

Maybe after further analysis i'll have more questions, since I keep discovering layers of intricacy in this game. Absolutely beautiful, i'd say, to see that in a video game during a time when Halo 3 eats up a good part of my time. Hopefully we'll get some more thoughts, or maybe some more questions from others? We've only scratched the surface here so far, i'm afraid

The way I understood or interpreted it is that a void is created for every (or maybe just certain) soul(s). Once a person dies, their soul descends and if they're lucky they will be caught by the void rather than go straight to the nightmare. Likewise, a void ceases to exist once that one soul has departed from it. If he goes up, he sucks all the color out of the void and destroys it. If he goes down, the sleeper loses its chance to awaken.

In the same sense, each void's sisters and brothers are unique - a set for every soul. The 11? sisters that exist in our void are a set entirely different than those of another void and vice-versa for the brothers.

Anyways, that's just my interpretation of the void and how I see it.

I too got the feeling that your physical body is still alive in the real world.

Here are some of my thoughts:

-You are an artist that is obsessed with the females you create in your paintings
-Your wife left with your child, orcommitted suicide because of this
-You fell into dispair, and are contemplating (or have committed) suicide
-The void represents your inner turmoil. You are fighting for your soul*, or to find the will to live*, or to create a new work of art (if you didn't jump, but are psychologically damaged)
-Choosing a sister to ascend is choosing to sacrifice yourself for your artwork
-The sister you choose to ascend represents the type of painting that will be created (the sisters/colour kept talking about what world will be created from each sister)

*If your character jumped off the building, the entire game could be set in the split second before you die in the real world. Your actions decide where you go to heaven or hell, or are revived in the real world.

A lot of these probably aren't substatiated in the game, but that's what came across to me. It also might be a consequence of me needing a good explanation for everything

Some things have me wondering though:

-What's the significance of the structure of the void? To me, it looks like a cluster of nerves inside a brain (which lead me to believe the game is set in your mind).
-Is there significance in the structure of The Adit? Maybe it's the inside of your eyeball. The Void nerve cluster is attached to the optic nerve. When you choose a sister to be the centre of your new painting, she ascends out of the pupil and onto the canvas.
-I haven't ascended all the sisters yet, but I read that each has a different poem (I wish the end sequences had subtitles). With all the sisters' talk about 'choosing the right sister', it doesn't seem to matter which one you choose. Is there really a 'right' sister to ascend?
-In the ascending endings, I was expecting a new fantastically coloured world to be created, depending on who you chose. What's the significance of the recurrent scenes of floating through the town? After collecting all that colour, reaching Turgor, ascending we see... the same town.
-I'm pretty sure it's that colour ghost thing that you chase through the town, but who is Godsend? This is where I got the idea that your wife jumped off the building, and that perhaps you followed... (it's her ghost).
-Why do Ole and Yani's chambers seem to be rooms in the town we keep seeing? Is Ole's house your house? Is Ole a representation of your wife? (hence why she's supposed to be your Sister).

Maybe I'm reading to much into the game, but I like everything to have a reasonably full explanation for most things (even if it is extremely obscure. The Silent Hill series is god of making you work for an explanation, and you're rewarded for your efforts with a lavish backstory).

Whew! That's all I can think of for now, but I'll be back