Hey, sorry for the late reply! I was so busy at work and didn't have the energy to check the forums.
Most of the characters have trauma, but rogues are unique in that they all have something life changing happen in their lives. Granted, Ruwin's trauma and Mikaylis' is enough to make up for Beisel's cushy life, and Miyetta and Lor make up for Beileph's isolation, even the priests don't all have it so bad.
Rogues are definitely punished as a whole faction. Granted, Ashur takes it on the chin, but he's, uh... unique. In many ways, and I say that with affection.
Katnir is absolutely sentimental but he's also fairly easy for me to know how to react to him in the scenes. He has his guard up, and the worst thing to do is to try to bring it down. Let him come to you. It's a trick that works on animals, and Katnir was raised by them, so why not? Joking aside, he's fixated on his familial loss and wants something concrete, despite his knowledge that nothing lasts forever. It's a contradictory wish that you have to allow him to ruminate on. Don't offer promises, only chances, because he's too cynical/wise and knows that promises will get broken which will lead to disappointment. Chances are just that, you've given him the choice to take the plunge. His rogue traits make him want to take chances, even is his earth trait is warning him of all the ways it could go wrong. He is a character of great depth that I rarely see in VNs, and he's my favourite rogue for it!
ROGUE LIKERS UNITE 🤝
(I have to confess though, although rogues are my favourite faction on the whole, none of them are in my top 3 characters for the series...)