History AudioPlay / TheCartographersHandbook

Set in the United Stated and framed as a survival guide, the Handbook details the events that led to the collapse of civilization shortly after the [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanCivilWar American Civil War]] due to an [[ZombieApocalypse outbreak of an infection that turns people into savage creatures]] dubbed [[{{Wendigo}} Wendigos]]. The [[FictionalDocument Handbook]] goes into detail about what a Cartographer, an agent of the Reunified States of America, needs to know in order to survive in a Wendigo infested world and how to further the government's goal of reclaiming what was once the United States.

* CoolGuns:
** The 1873 model Winchester rifle is mentioned as being standard issue for RSA soldiers while RSA scouts can get ones with telescopic sights.
** The 1860 Army model of the Colt revolver is, in turn, the standard issue sidearm for RSA soldiers.

* DaylightHorror: While they seem to prefer the dark, there is nothing stopping Wendigo from attacking people in the day.

* ViolenceIsDisturbing: Pvt. Sadler is clearly disturbed as he describes a Wendigo tearing apart a deer.

* BloodSplatteredInnocent: Maggie Strother's neighbor Helen ends up being soaked in blood after a Wendigo attacks her and her husband, Bill.

* LiteraryAgentHypothesis: Alex Shaw is mentioned near the beginning as the director of a documentary in modern times concerning the events chronicled in the Cartographer's Handbook.

The Cartographer's Handbook is an audio drama created by Alex Shaw and is the first story in ''AudioPlay/TheNewCenturyMultiverse'', marking the beginning of Phase 1 of the overarching story.

The Cartographer's Handbook is an audio drama created by Alex Shaw and is the first story in the New Century series, marking the beginning of Phase 1 of the overarching story.

!! This the Cartographer's Handbook provides examples of:
* AfterTheEnd: The Cartographer's Handbook is written from a point in time after the Wendigo plague has caused the collapse of civilization and the American government has barely fought it's back from the brink of destruction.
* AlienSpaceBats: The divergence in the story's timeline occurs because of the sudden emergence of the Wendigo plague in the 1870s.
* AlternateHistory: History diverges shortly after the American Civil War when the Wendigo plague suddenly appears and ravages the human race.
* AnimalMotif: The Wendigo are often compared to big cats like pumas.
* ApocalypseAnarchy: The entirety of the United States (and possibly the world) has fallen to this outside the lands controlled by the RSA.
* ApocalypseHow: The Wendigo plague appears to cause a [[ApocalypseHow/Class2 Class 2]].

* ArmyScout: The titular Cartographer's function as this.

* CarryABigStick: Soldiers in the RSA are regularly outfitted with specially designed maces referred to as "Clementines." They are designed to reduce the amount of blood spilt while fighting Wendigos in close quarters in order to prevent infection.
* CatsAreMean: As part of the AnimalMotif mentioned above, Pvt. Sadler compares a Wendigo killing a deer to his family's cat playing with the mice it would catch.

* CrapsackWorld: Humanity is barely surviving against the horror of an infection that turns people into bloodthirsty monsters.

* DeathFromAbove: Wendigos prefer to ambush their prey from above, either lurking in tree branches or the rafters of a building.

* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: The Wendigo plague leads to the complete collapse of civilization.
* EyeColourChange: One of the effects of transforming into a Wendigo is the color of the victim's eyes change to orange.
* FallenStatesOfAmerica: The Wendigo plague leads to the collapse of the American government. At the beginning of the story, the government, now renamed the Reunified States of America, only controls Washington D.C. and the surrounding area.

* FleshEatingZombie: The Wendigo, as their namesake would suggest, are very interested in eating humans, though they are willing to go after other living creatures as well.
* GovernmentAgencyOfFiction: The Cartographer's Handbook was created to be used by agents of the fictional National Intelligence Agency of the Reunified States of America.

* HatePlague: Though the Wendigo plague does cause physical mutations as well, its main threat is that it turns off the higher functions of the brain, turning people into savage animals.
* HerrDoctor: Doctor Julius Kaufman, who gives the rundown of the survival kit given to RSA scouts.
* HighPressureBlood: It's noted that Wendigo's are more prone to spraying blood when stabbed and cut than a human, which makes using knives and swords against them impractical due to the infectious nature of their bodily fluids.

** [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Ulysses S. Grant]] is President of the Reunified States of America, having been elected for a third term and granted emergency powers due to the unprecedented situation.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: After being attacked by a Wendigo, Maggie Strother's neighbor partakes in some brandy, which ends up hiding some of the
* IstanbulNotConstantinople: The United States' name was changed to the Reunified States of America by President Grant in order to symbolize the government's mission to rebuild the country.
* ItCanThink: It's show that Wendigos possess an animal cunning, preferring to stalk their prey and attack from ambush while also displaying pack tactics akin to those of a wolf.

* NoBiochemicalBarriers: [[AvertedTrope Averted]], as it is stated that the Wendigo plague effects humans.

* NotUsingTheZWord: While the Wendigo are mentioned to have many colloquial names (Ghoul, Wraith, Vampire, Goblin), Zombie is not one of them. Justified, as the idea of the zombie had not yet entered the public consciousness in the 1870s.

* [[RedEyesTakeWarning Orange Eyes Take Warning]]: Those who transform into Wendigos develop an unnatural orange eye color.

* OurZombiesAreDifferent: Wendigo hold many similarities with the modern, fast zombie, but also possess an animal cunning and predator instincts, making them akin to a werewolf trapped in its monstrous form.

* OutsideContextProblem: The Wendigo are one and catch humanity so off guard that it has just barely fought off extinction.
* PainfulTransformation: The transformation into a Wendigo involves both a descent into madness and a painful metamorphosis that involves bones breaking and resetting.
* PatientZero: What makes the Wendigo plague so mysterious and deadly is that multiple patient zeros pop up in random locations around the world at roughly the same time.
* ThePlague: The disease that transforms people into Wendigo, notable for how quickly it spreads and its lack of a cure.
* PlagueZombie: If a person is bit or scratched by a Wendigo, they will transform into one as well in a matter of hours, becoming a savage creature interested only in killing and eating.

* TechnicallyLivingZombie: The Wendigo are living, breathing creatures, more akin to mutated people than the undead.

* ViolenceIsDisturbing: Pvt. Sadler is clearly disturbed as he describes a Wendigo tearing apart a deer.
* TheVirus: The Wendigo plague, which is extremely communicable and sets in rapidly.
* WasOnceAMan: The transformation into a Wendigo is so drastic that its hard for some people to remember they used to be human.
* {{Wendigo}}: Though they aren't the creatures of myth, the infected are given this name in order to invoke the legend.
* ZombieApocalypse: By the start of the story, the Wendigo plague has already caused the collapse of the United States and pushed humanity to the brink of extinction.

* AmericanAccents:
** Director Arlington has something of a Tidewater accent.
** Pvt. Sadler has a particularly thick Dixie accent, as does Captain Tudor.

* XMeetsY: Literature/WorldWarZ meets Film/GoneWithTheWind

* BloodSplatteredInnocent: Maggie Strother's neighbor ends up being soaked in blood after a Wendigo attacks her and her husband.

* A Native American scout, Askook, chooses to try and take out a Wendigo with a bow and arrow because he fears the crack of a gunshot will attract other Wendigo.
* Other scouts are allowed to carry bows instead of rifles for the same reason.