Codex entry The Kirkwall City Guard
Dragon Age II Section: Lore Location: A shield in Viscount's Keep (City Guard Barracks) in Act 1

Codex text

It is with pride that I, your viscount, grant the authority of law and civil enforcement upon the guardsmen of an independent Kirkwall.

No more will we defer to the will of foreign troops or draw a holy order into tasks unbefitting their mandate. These proud men and women will be of the people and will enforce the laws we have elected for a civil and ordered society. And should the specter of invasion return, the noble guardsmen will conscript from the population, for who better to amass the people's will than the constables of law charged with its inspection?

This is a great day, fair Kirkwall, and I am honored to appoint the first guard-captain. Long may he serve the will of a free people.

—From "Orlesian Legacy: How Institutions of the Oppressors Linger," the speeches of Viscount Michel Lafaille, collected by Philliam, a Bard!