Swashbucklers & Strongholds!

1.) Where can a person find the thief stronghold and how do you get it?
2.) My swashbuckler has 2 points in long swords {just started him}. Should I have put points into katana's instead? because of the Celestial Fury and the Dakkon Zerth Blade?
3.) When you dual class a swashbuckler into a mage, what is the highest spellcasting level that you can get too within the level limits that came with the game? ( no exp remover )
4.) Are the rewards that you get with the thief stronghold worth it? I heard you got several good items. Unlike the others, with the fighter stronghold, all I saw that you got was 10k gold and 500 more every week with the ability to raise taxes. With the ranger stronghold, all I got was a measly cabin (pretty cool cabin though) and a longsword +1 was probably the best item that the townspeople gave me in Umar Hills. I don't even remember them giving me a discount for crying out loud!
5.) With the thief stronghold, do you get alot of money, items, or exp? Is there a "better" stronghold that is worth more than the others? Or do they all have there advantages/disadvantages?
6.) Is the swashbuckler mage "truly" unstoppable, just like the Kensai Warrior, except with thief abilities and better weapon proficiency? Are they pretty well matched against each other?
7.) Is it better to go with Longswords or Katanas? Or is there another weapon proficiency that I should go with as a Swashbuckler/Mage?

If you can answer any of those questions, I would be very appreciative. Thanks!

Okay;
1) You get the thief stronghold after taking care of Mae'Var for Renal Bloodscalp.
2) Personally, I don't see why people use longswords at all in this game when you can get the celestial fury so close to the beginning. You can put 2 points into katanas and 2 points into dual-wielding. Use the Fury and the Zerthblade and you'll be a dervish.
3) If you dual to a mage at level 10 - you'd want to get to level 10 at least - you'll be able to get to level 16 with the mage.
4 - 5) No, you don't get any special rewards from the thieves' guild. You do, however, get much more money per tenday.
6) Ask Memnoch.
7) Uh... see 2.

[Memnoch]

Eh? I heard my name being mentioned...

Swashbuckler-mage. My motivation for creating this character was that i wanted to have a character that had as much versatility as possible, but not end up being as wussy as HaerDalis ended up being. I intended to specialize my NPCs. Plus I wanted someone reasonably self-sufficient at the start. I like doing my own scouting so I wanted a thief-type with high picklocks and find traps but i also wanted someone to be able to go toe to toe in melee if required. The swashbuckler seemed like a good compromise, though he'll never be as powerful in melee as a kensai. Then when i got to level 11 I dualled him because I wanted to reach level 17 as a mage. As a solo power player it's not as powerful as all these kensai mages running around but it gives me a spare slot to pick up and drop NPCs from my party as I don't need a specialist thief anymore.