[quote=@AWildSquirtle]
<Snipped quote by HereComesTheSnow>

I think Aubri wasn't trained with this sword, but a more practical fencing weapon. It's a "gift" from his father, a show of power and prestige, but also a means of getting his son killed if a fight breaks out and earning the family "woe is them, they have lost a son for the glory of the Republic" pity points in the Assembly.
[/quote]

Sounds to me like the katana might be a more ceremonial holdover from earlier in the Republic's history— maybe kenjutsu still survives as a martial art, but the very maritime Brothers that Imre would have devoured years of fencing under now prefer the single-handed, swept-hilt [i]Bilbao/Spada da lato/Espada Ropera[/i] genre since it's easier to use when you're keeping ahold of the rigging or something. Maybe a transition that came in when the Keepers of Light started shaping swords out of anti-magic coral instead of the [i]tamahagane[/i] method for steel? That'd make sense since we're kind of in an archipelago situation by my read of things