The design note gave me a laugh: 'slimmer, shorter, asshole version of Xerxes'.
In Knight of Alanoc, Xerxes is the spitting image of the man Osric just broke up with - seeing a face like his so soon after an ugly split is a big source of conflict lol.
As the story has some truth in my real life, I felt him looking like X was crucial to the plot. Makes the payoff sweeter in the end, so don't worry about too much angst ;)
More AoB this week :3