Matthias and the Amethyst Imago

I had a nasty moment this morning where a key on my keyboard got gunged up and for a moment the entire ULTIST SIMULATOR project was in jeopardy. All good now.

Remember this?

Here’s the story. Three days into the Cultist Simulator, I got this mail:

“I have a question for you, which will require a bit of background. I am about to get married on the 24th of this month. My bride and I have been big fans of yours since Fallen London years ago, and she was actually the one who got me into it. We’ve relentlessly played Sunless Sea as well, and look forward to the completion of Sunless Skies. I require a wedding present for [name] (my bride, obviously) and the Cultist Simulator Kickstarter is extremely well timed. Being immortalized within the words of one of her favorite writers will be a fantastic present. I thought perhaps we could work out something special. 
I have some thoughts on what might be suitable, but first, I wanted to see if this is even something you would be willing to help me with. It may be against your principles and sense of fair play to do something special for one (or two, since I have to count myself) people, or there may be practical concerns, which I understand. Here are some reasons why in spite of those things you may be inclined to grant my request:
-it would make a special girl very happy on her wedding day, if you put stock in that sort of thing
-I wrote you a dopey piece of fan mail once.
-I’m redditor Escapade84, maintainer of the Best Cultist Simulator Guide By Default, and generally helpful dude.
-If you like, I will tell this story and all your fans will go “aw, that’s so romantic. Alexis sure is a swell guy” while you remain stoically laconic and perhaps tell everyone not to make such a fuss.
-you’ll probably get more funding from me this way than if I just get a few tiers and duct tape them together (maybe not enough to justify your time, but I’m trying here).
-…good karma?”
Obviously, at this point I should stoically caution you all not to make such a  fuss. And obviously also I said yes, and rather than requiring extra pledges from the gentleman I established the stretch goal above. Of course it wasn’t much use as a stretch goal, because I had to keep the deets secret for most of the campaign because it needed to be a surprise for the lady, but we are talking about a campaign where the stretch goals included ‘make Lottie a nice cup of tea’ so I was very happy with that.
So I provided them both with an early instance of a God-who-was-stone pledge-level-style Thing, and I’ve added a reference to the pair of them in game, as Matthias and the Amethyst Imago. It’s not a cheerful story, but I’m pretty sure the lady and the gentleman knew to expect that.
The pictures include the Thing, which is not a telescope, and which may not be the same kind of Thing other people receive.
I trust you’ll join me in wishing their personal Sun remains intact. And yes, the next time I’m running a Kickstarter, if you’re getting married, I’ve established a precedent and you should feel free to drop me a line.
on Matthias and the Amethyst Imago

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