There have been at least 13 incarnations of the Red Emperor. The first – who was from roughly 1250 to 1390, was truly Moonson.
During the Sheng Seleris era there were two incarnations, called the First and Second Returns. We all follow the pious fiction that those were still that original Red Emperor, but that is probably false.
After that are ten men who became the Red Emperor. The differences in these emperors can be seen in the coinage of the Empire. The mints attempt to keep up to date for each Mask and new stampings are regularly commissioned even for a single Emperor.
Coins by the amazing Katrin Dirim.
‘m happy to let others speculate on which coin is which Mask (of course I know, but that’s not why I posted these). Rather, they nicely show the diversity of Red Emperor iconography. Some are bearded, some are not. Some are warriors, some are not. You can see a move away from traditional Dara Happan iconography towards something truly Lunar.
