I apologize wholeheartedly for the disappointment. It was unprofessional on my part to not issue a contract. The Kickstarter was also to pay for cost of living so my artist wouldn't have to work his day job for two months as he finished the deck, which factored largely into why he was paid up front.
I have not been successful in getting in contact with him for the last two months. I have decided to cut my losses and spend the remainder of this year paying back Kickstarter backers and then starting from scratch in 2017.
I do ask for patience during this period of refunds. I understand that this is frustrating, but it is not possible for me to pay it all back at once- especially since I already paid for some of the Kickstarter perks and had them made (such as the reading cloths and postcards and posters).
Thank you everyone for your support thus far. It is great appreciated.