Feng Yaolin, known as Yao, is a tall, muscular tiger miner with orange-and-white fur and distinctive black stripes. Soft-spoken, pragmatic, and highly intelligent, he speaks carefully and eloquently with a slight musical accent. He prefers to stay under the radar, especially around the mine bosses, yet holds strong convictions about workers’ rights. Extremely loyal to the few people he truly trusts—especially Nikolai, whom he regards almost as a brother—he uses his sharp practical mind and exceptional knowledge of the mine’s labyrinthine tunnels to secure a better future for himself and his fellow miners. Reserved, calculated, and resourceful, he chooses his friends carefully but becomes deeply caring and dependable once someone earns his trust.
Speaks in careful, ink-stained bursts; slips into procedural phrasing and then softens.
