"I'm curious: why doesn't anyone use the standard Manuals that come with the game or third-party ones?"
It's not mentioned in the official Manual, nor in Novikov's.

MakeHeroInteractWithObject
MakeHeroInteractWithObject – makes the hero interact with the specified object immediately,
even if the hero is not close to the object.


Syntax

{{{
MakeHeroInteractWithObject( heroName, objectName )
}}}

Description

The hero "heroName" interacts with the object "objectName" at the moment of the
command’s execution, regardless of his current position on the map.

SetMonsterCourageAndMood
SetMonsterCourageAndMood – allows setting the monsters' Courage and Mood with respect to
the specified player.

Syntax
{{{
SetMonsterCourageAndMood( monsterName, playerID, courage, mood )
}}}

Description

Sets the monster’s "monsterName" attitude to the heroes of the player "playerID" to the
values of "courage" and "mood".

The values (also described in "HOMM5_A2_IDs_for_Scripts.pdf"):

* "MONSTER_COURAGE_ALWAYS_JOIN"
* "MONSTER_COURAGE_ALWAYS_FIGHT"
* "MONSTER_COURAGE_CAN_FLEE_JOIN"

* "MONSTER_MOOD_FRIENDLY"
* "MONSTER_MOOD_AGGRESSIVE"
* "MONSTER_MOOD_HOSTILE"
* "MONSTER_MOOD_WILD"

The meanings of the values are similar to the "Courage" and "Mood" settings for the monsters
in the editor.