 Allowances are made for times of war when soldiers may ask each other direct questions; this is known as War Manners, and is part of the Elves' Knightly training.It's mentioned in the sequel trilogy, The Enduring Flame Trilogy, that "To ask a direct question is to "demand" it be answered", explaining why the Elves, who favor ease and calm, would consider direct questions offensive.In the "Obsidian Trilogy" world, time is measured in different units to the real world, even though many are units that have been used in the past like "sennight".