>>why is this thing so heavy?
Because it's most likely that the fest schiavonas are just cut & pasted (stat-wise) from the standard shop schiavona sold in Ratha, which weighs 56 stones.
The question then is, why does that schiavona weigh 56 stones, to which the answer would be, "game balance." Why game balance? Because shop weapons are balanced against other store-bought quality weapons. The cost that the designer apparently chose to apply for schiavonas having higher slice and impact levels than a standard broadsword, while still being in the same balance/suitedness ranges was an added 21 stones to the weight. Take for comparison the steelclaw clan broadsword which has better impact than a standard broadsword, in that case, it pays for the extra impact by having a noticeably lower level of balance and 5 stones added to the weight.
Keep in mind that you can't compare store (and most fest) quality weapons/armor to forged versions, they're just not scaled the same.
"Now won't you tell me if you like what you've just heard?
And if you think the point I'm driving at absurd,
Well there's no need to tell me how or tell me why,
But I need to know the reason not to try."
- John Popper, Onslaught
