The scimitar form is not commonplace on Ashenfall. Unlike the mainland (where you can't walk five metres in the Kharidian Desert without getting slashed by one), the scimitar is a rarity. Only an offshoot of the Garou, found in some of the harshest deserts of Ashenfall, are known to wield it.
That is likely to change, of course, as more adventurers make landfall. It makes you wonder what the island will look like in five, ten years' time as the cultures intertwine.