: I would guess that they returned their equipment to the
: armoury/vaults of Muirthemne. If, like the Warriors of
: the Legion, their equipment is provided by the
: government, it would make sense from a philosophical
: viewpoint. Why should they benefit from the Emperor's
: gifts when all they gave the Emperor in return was
: abject failure?
True, but obviously they can find it again and get it quickly. So they must have had somewhere they knew very well.
: GURPS also says that the "Heron Guard sword"
: can be either curved like a katana, or flat-bladed-
: but that in either case, they count as being katanas
: in game terms. However, looking at in-game Herons, it
: doesn't seem that they use true ni-tu-kenjutsu (the
: simultaneous katana/wakizashi fighting style). Rather,
: the left-handed katana seems to be used primarily for
: parrying, with the offensive emphasis being placed on
: the right-handed katana (or vice-versa, for left
: handed guardsmen). My guess would be that heron guard
: swords are shorter than true katanas, both because of
: the impracticality of wielding two blades which are
: essentially bastard swords, and because most new
: Herons would already have had experience of wielding
: broadswords, and equipping them with similar weapons
: allows the Emperor to capitalise on this pre-existing
: skill.
I think, but I'm not sure, that Alric's sword and Balmung would be bastard swords in effect, as Alric always swings with both hands, even if he carries the sword with one when just moving or standing there. Heron Guard swords don't seem to be quite that big-and-awkward, but I'm honestly not sure what makes, besides being the weapon of samurai, a katana a katana.
Given how radically different fighting with two swords is compared to fighting with sword and shield, using a similar sword type is probably not going to make things much easier. Admitedly, I'm less than a novice on the subject of actually using swords, so I'll take someone else's word for it if they know.
Seraph
