Prague Plaques

The Prague Plaques are a collection of five bronze plaques found in the catacombs beneath Prague which recount the Chronicle of Caine. The catacombs are designed to be confusing and maze-like, with the correct path to the exit found only by reading the plaques. Each plaque is emblazoned with the clan shield of the Nosferatu.

The Cappadocian Garinol also kept a fragment with him in the Petrin Hill Monastery, which may or may not be part of the same translation as the plaques:

The Signs of Gehenna, canto four
So too, our Grandsires will rise from the ground
They will break their fast on the first part of us
They will consume us whole

See this article on the VTM Redemption Wiki:

Book of Nod

The First Plaque

In the beginning there was only Caine.
Caine who sacrificed his brother out of love.
Caine who was cast out.
Caine who was cursed with the lust for blood.
It is Caine from whom we all come, our sire's sire.

The Second Plaque

For the passing of an age Caine lived in the land of Nod,
in loneliness and suffering
For an eon he lived alone
But the passing of memory drowned his sorrow.
And so he returned to the world of mortals
To the world of mortals,
To the world his brother and his brother's children had created.

The Third Plaque

Though he became ruler of a mighty nation, Caine was still alone,
For none was as he. His sorrow grew once again.
Then he committed another great sin, for he begat progeny,
Of whom there were only three.
But from them came more progeny, Caine's grandchilder,
And then Caine said, "An end to this crime. There shall be no more."
And as his word was law, his brood obeyed him.
The city stood for many ages,
And became the center of a mighty empire.

The Fourth Plaque

But then came the Deluge, a Great Flood that washed over the world.
The city was destroyed,
And its people along with it.
Again Caine fell into a great sorrow and went into solitude,
Becoming as a dog amidst the wastes,
And leaving his progeny to their own ends.
They came to him and begged him to return,
To help them rebuild the city.
But he would not come with them,
Saying the Flood had been sent as punishment
For his having returned to the world of life
And subverting the true law.

The Fifth Plaque

A great war was waged, the elders against their children,
And the children slew their parents.
The rebels then built a new city
And brought to it 13 tribes.
It was a beautiful city and their people worshipped them as gods.
They created new progeny of their own,
The fourth generation of Cainites.
But they feared the Jyhad,
And it was forbidden for these childer
To create others of their kind.
Although this city was as great as Caine's, eventually it grew old.
As do all living things, it slowly began to die.
Their city was destroyed and their power extinguished.
With their authority gone, all were free to create their own broods.
And soon there were many new Cainites,
Who ruled across the face of the Earth.

Background Information

• The Plaques are found in Josef's Tunnels 3, a part of the Nosferatu sewers in VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption .
• The Plaques 1 and 2 largely mirror "The Tale of the First City" section of the Book of Nod assembled by Aristotle de Laurent, starting on page 46. Plaque 3 appears to be unique. Plaque 4 picks up in de Laurent's Book of Nod on page 50, and Plaque 5 a few stanzas later on page 52. The text is similar but not exact. This suggests De Laurent may have used the Plaques as one of the sources in his compilation.

References

• VTM: Vampire: The Masquerade - Redemption