Escapade!
An interactive fiction by Juhana Leinonen (2008) - the Inform 7 source text
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The manual is a thing. The description is "It's a manual leaflet for operating [the trebuchet]."
Instead of discussing with the creature about the manual when the manual is not handled:
try discussing with the creature about the trebuchet.
Understand "trebuchet/catapult/trebuchet's/catapult's/trebuchets/catapults manual/leaflet/instructions" and "leaflet/instructions" as the manual.
The printing of the manual is "[fixed letter spacing]'Thank you for purchasing a [italic type]WallBreaker[tm][roman type] catapult! You are now the proud owner of a finest piece of modern medieval siege equipment.[paragraph break]To operate your WallBreaker[tm] catapult:[line break] 1) load the mechanism by turning the winch until the arm has come all the way down.[line break] 2) insert ammunition (sold separately) on the cup located at the end of the arm.[line break] 3) pull the lever.[line break] 4) repeat until the enemy's defensive structures have fallen.[line break] 5) storm the castle with your army.'[variable letter spacing]".
After reading the manual for the first time:
now the printed name of the trebuchet is "catapult";
now the ammunition is conversable;
now the cup is conversable.
Instead of opening the manual:
try reading the manual.
The ammunition is a not conversable thing. Understand "ammo" as the ammunition. The creature response is "'You don't happen to have any ammunition to this?'[paragraph break]'Stop playing with the thing. You'll just hurt yourself,' [the creature] warns." The guard response is "'I need some ammo for my [trebuchet],' you ask. 'HA! HA! You'll have to SLING YOURSELF if you don't find ANYTHING ELSE!' he roars."