1. Do you have a proficiency (sp?) point in Single Weapon Style? If you do, whenever you equip a weapon, it will drop your AC by one. If you have two points, it will drop your AC by two (though I don't think you can have more than one with a monk). Monks do not get any special bonuses from katanas

2. They do have a stronghold. After you talk to the 'Coo!' man in the slums, Brus will direct you to the appropriate person. It's the same stronghold as another class.

have fun! Personally I love monks. I legitimately built my monk up to a demi-god status after playing through a number of times, though a high level monk is almost unbeatable

Use SK. IMO thats a valid usage of the software. Correcting a mistake without outbalancing your char.