111 réponses à ce sujet

[Elite Midget]

Are you completely *forgetting* the part where Meredith and Orsino talk outside the circle itself before the Templars actually invade and Orsino full blown surrenders like I said above?  And Meredith *refuses* to accept it.

 

See here.

 

Orsino: "Imprison us if you must.  Search the tower.  I will even help you.  But do not kill us all for an act we did not commit."

 

Meredith: "LOLNOPE."

You aren't reading what I've posted.

 

That was initially and Orsino was being manipulated by a crazed Meredith. That and despite what Orsino says he doesn't acknowledge the Blood Mage issue, he doesn't cast aside his weapon nor does he try and see Meredith's point because he had blinded himself to how tainted he allowed the Circle to become under his own watch.

 

Orsino offering his help is counter as well as Meredith knows that he intentionally kept Blood Mage and Blood Magic news from her and purposely tried to hide the corruption of the Circle thus she couldn't trust him. If he threw down his weapon right than and there and offered no resistance, and acknowledged that the Circle was tainted quite deeply and thus something needed to be done(other than the RoA), than there's no way Meredith could have been allowed to kill him as the Templars wouldn't have allowed it. They would have instead gathered up all the surrendering Mages, like they do if Hawke tells them to spare surrendering Mages that aren't offering resistance, and tested them for Blood Magic. 

 

At this point Meredith was losing a ton of support and many were starting to believe that she was really insane after all. So Meredith wanted Orsino to resist and not fully comply with her outlandish demands. Since if Orsino did than it would make the RoA null and void as the Circle clearly isn't the threat Meredith is labeling it as.

 

Not to mention that after the RoA is put forth initially Orsino resists and orders Mages to fight the Templars and said Mages all happen to use Blood Magic and summon Demons. Not good at all.

 

Either way, Meredith and Orsino both screwed up hugely. The difference is that Meredith was driven even more insane by the idol and she was smarter than Orsino as she manipulated him so that the RoA could gain merit and that she could carry it out with Templar support.

[MagicalMaster]

If he threw down his weapon right than and there and offered no resistance, and acknowledged that the Circle was tainted quite deeply and thus something needed to be done(other than the RoA), than there's no way Meredith could have been allowed to kill him as the Templars wouldn't have allowed it.

 

Orsino: "Promise not to MURDER us on the spot and we'll let you throw us all into prison without any resistance and help you search the tower if you want."

 

Meredith: "Hell no."

 

I don't know how it can get any clearer than that.

[Elite Midget]

Orsino: "Promise not to MURDER us on the spot and we'll let you throw us all into prison without any resistance and help you search the tower if you want."

 

Meredith: "Hell no."

 

I don't know how it can get any clearer than that.

Not Orsino's words or Meredith's, those are yours. 

 

Furthermore when Meredith told Orsino to ready the Mages for battle what did he do? Orsino went to bolster his defenses which was what Meredith wanted. Notice how she doesn't kill Orsino right than and there when she easily could have.

 

This is because slaughtering surrendering Mages who didn't fight or resisting wouldn't work. The Templars would instead want to take them captive, as those like Cullen didn't want unneeded bloodshed, and there's the Hawke factor if Hawke sided with the Templars as Meredith couldn't trust Hawke. So Meredith needed Orsino to rally the Mages into fighting the Templars, using Blood Magic and summoning Demons as that would give the RoA all the merit it needed to be carried out fully and Orsino did exactly that. 

 

Siding with the Templars proves how weak of a hold Meredith had on the order as the Templars outright ignore Meredith's orders, and the RoA, to slaughter all Mages and instead spare surrendering Mages if Hawke tells them that they should. If they followed the RoA and Meredith's orders fully than no Mage would even be given consideration for surrender. This in turn showcased that the Templars were uncomfortable with the RoA and many didn't believe that Meredith had the right to order it be carried out as she did.

 

However, with the Mages resisting and Demons appearing all over the place due to Blood Magic they couldn't openly refute her unless she stepped way out of line. Which Meredith eventually did.

 

Thus it was essentially for Meredith to have Orsino and the Mages, Blood Mage or not, to resist and she purposely pushed him to do as such and he fell right into her manipulations.

[MagicalMaster]

Not Orsino's words or Meredith's, those are yours. 

 

How is how I paraphrased Orsino ANY DIFFERENT from "Imprison us if you must.  Search the tower.  I will even help you.  But do not kill us all for an act we did not commit."

[Elite Midget]

How is how I paraphrased Orsino ANY DIFFERENT from "Imprison us if you must.  Search the tower.  I will even help you.  But do not kill us all for an act we did not commit."

I noticed that you didn't read anything else in my post and keep bringing the same thing up again.

 

What part of "Meredith manipulated Orsino to get what she wanted" do you not understand? If Orsino threw down his weapon, got down on the ground, claimed innocence and stated that he wouldn't resist even if Meredith would kill him than there's no way that Meredith would have garnered the support needed to carry out the RoA nor would she have been allowed by her own Templar Order to murder Orsino in cold blood or any other Mage who surrenders.

 

Thus Meredith's madness would be revealed there if she still demanded Orsino's murder and tried to do it herself, something Hawke could obviously prevent and the Templars would back him/her over Meredith. Especially if Meredith starts raving that they're all in with the Blood Mages and demanding Hawke's death.

 

Thus Meredith wanted a fight to happen and she pushed Orsino to make it happen which he did.

[MagicalMaster]

All of the gathered Templars and Cullen heard Orsino offer to surrender and be locked up with no resistance.  And to even help the Templars search the tower if they wanted.  He completely capitulated on not only him not wanting Meredith to search everything but also offered to surrender with the ONLY condition that all the mages wouldn't simply be executed per the rite.

 

DESPITE hearing that, the Templars went along with Meredith's plan to murder every mage.  Why?  Because Meredith claimed the people of the city would want blood.  And the surrounding Templars fell in line with the argument "We should kill all of you regardless of your potential innocence because people in the city want us to murder you."

 

The game itself contradicts your claims.

[Elite Midget]

They heard but they never saw, Orsino never put his life on the line to prove his innocence. I've made extremely detailed explanations for everything you continue to bring up over and over again yet you continue to ignore them by asking yet again.

 

When the innocent non-Blood Mages ran into the Templars in the tower, if you allied with the Templars, they don't kill them on sight and Cullen doesn't have the stomach to kill those that would put themselves at their mercy. After all, a Blood Mage would resist to the very end while those Mages didn't display Blood Magic and had thrown themselves at the Templars mercy without a fight even as their lives are threatened which proved that they could be innocent and thus would be tested later. Hence why the Templars spare them, if Hawke tells them to, despite the RoA being in effect.

 

The game contradicts your claims and you conveniently ignoring what happened and ignoring most of the contents of my posts save the few points, taken out of context, you want the nitpick isn't helping your argument. Especially when there's cold hard proof, which I've referenced multiple times, where the Templars outright defy Meredith and the RoA in favor of Hawke despite Hawke not being a part of their order.

[blaidfiste]

I actually agree with Hawke's reasoning here

 

 

All Kirkwall citizens will see is:  Elthina dead by magic = Kill all mages

 

The right of annulment is about killing all mages, not allowing for their surrender

 

 

Funny thing is Meredith DOES say she'll entertain a surrender but meh,

[Elite Midget]

Meredith says it but we know she's lying, while the Templars on the other hand? They aren't comfortable with killing all the Mages and Hawke doesn't require much effort at all to convince them to ignore the RoA by sparing surrendering Mages despite the RoA demanding that all Mages of the Circle to die.

 

The point is that Hawke is the one who can get the Templars to turn against Meredith and refusing to carry out the RoA as stated but only if Hawke agrees to help the Templars. Those like Cullen have also worked with Hawke many times in the past, hence why Cullen would only go for possibly arresting Hawke and not killing. Meredith clearly lied about her intentions concerning Hawke to Cullen and the other Templars as they were all shocked when she demanded Hawke's death and none of them would fight alongside her.

[zenrockoutkast]

You aren't reading what I've posted.

 

That was initially and Orsino was being manipulated by a crazed Meredith. That and despite what Orsino says he doesn't acknowledge the Blood Mage issue, he doesn't cast aside his weapon nor does he try and see Meredith's point because he had blinded himself to how tainted he allowed the Circle to become under his own watch.

 

Orsino offering his help is counter as well as Meredith knows that he intentionally kept Blood Mage and Blood Magic news from her and purposely tried to hide the corruption of the Circle thus she couldn't trust him. If he threw down his weapon right than and there and offered no resistance, and acknowledged that the Circle was tainted quite deeply and thus something needed to be done(other than the RoA), than there's no way Meredith could have been allowed to kill him as the Templars wouldn't have allowed it. They would have instead gathered up all the surrendering Mages, like they do if Hawke tells them to spare surrendering Mages that aren't offering resistance, and tested them for Blood Magic. 

 

At this point Meredith was losing a ton of support and many were starting to believe that she was really insane after all. So Meredith wanted Orsino to resist and not fully comply with her outlandish demands. Since if Orsino did than it would make the RoA null and void as the Circle clearly isn't the threat Meredith is labeling it as.

 

Not to mention that after the RoA is put forth initially Orsino resists and orders Mages to fight the Templars and said Mages all happen to use Blood Magic and summon Demons. Not good at all.

 

Either way, Meredith and Orsino both screwed up hugely. The difference is that Meredith was driven even more insane by the idol and she was smarter than Orsino as she manipulated him so that the RoA could gain merit and that she could carry it out with Templar support.

Ummm...and why did Orsino hide blood magic?  Because he feared a situation exactly like the one that played out would happen.  He feared that the Templars would put the mages in a situation where it was life or death and they would have no choice but to use blood magic.  Fenris even sort of admits this when you say to him that not all mages resort to blood magic and he replies that they all will IF they're backed into a corner.  So what do you think people should refrain from doing?  Putting mages into a situation where their only chance of survival is to resort to blood magic.  Orsino specifically states that he didn't approve of Quentin's research, but only allowed it to go on so he could use it as a last resort against Meredith, so really Meredith shares a good deal of culpability in Quentin's murders.

 

If you look at the Ferelden circle you see what a good relationship between Templars and mages accomplishes.  Gregoir trusts Irving and wants to avoid as much bloodshed as he possibly can, and Irving takes a hard stance against blood mages, going so far as to employing his own mages in exposing them.  Meredith, on the other hand, was locking mages in their cells, ignoring Orsino, and putting harrowed mages through the rite of tranquility BEFORE she ever came into contact with the idol.  You can't push so hard against mages and expect them not to push back.

 

Even look at Cassandra, she started out thinking that the Hawkes came to Kirkwall specifically to spread subversion against the Chantry and at the end she admits that Meredith was the root cause of everything that transpired.  I wholeheartedly agree with Varric when he says that it was a combination of her, the idol, and Anders that caused the conflict.  You can't simply put everything on the mages because some of them used blood magic.  They were completely at the mercy of the Templar order, you can't fault them for trying to protect their own lives.

[Elite Midget]

Orsino hiding Blood Magic, unofficially supporting his friend in Blood Magic(And Necromancy stuff), and protecting suspected Blood Mages from even the Circle itself only served to push the issue a great deal and fueled Meredith's belief that what she was doing was "Right" with the idol enhancing her madness. This is because her own Templars were leaving the order, as the Idol was making her even more extreme over the years, which made her paranoid of her own Order.

 

Fenris is wrong though, the Mages that surrender to you if you went Templar side is proof that even desperate Mages will not resort to Blood Magic. They know what the RoA is yet they still threw themselves down for Hawke to decide their fate.

 

Orsino makes excuses for everything, he didn't even care about the women that Quentin. Throughout his entire appearances he tries to pretend Blood Magic and Blood Mages aren't an issue even when he has damning evidence in front of him. Heck, it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that many Mages within HIS Circle, which he refused to take charge of, were using Blood Magic. 

 

Outside factors is a huge thing here. In Fereldan the Warden is able to solve things rather quickly due to forcing themselves into thing, while Hawke didn't have that luxury. Hawke didn't even know Meredith had the Idol for years or that Orsino was purposely hiding Blood Magic stuff for years as well instead of actually dealing with it on a permanent basis.

 

It wasn't some, the Blood Mage issue grows to becoming bigger and bigger over the years and allowed to fester. 

 

I didn't put it only on the Mages. My posts clearly place the blame on everyone as well as highlighting that Orsino was an enabler who was way too easily manipulated due to his lack of backbone. Meredith needed Orsino to rally the Mages to oppose her because even her own Order was questioning her and had more loyalty to Hawke, if you help the Templars, than her.

[zenrockoutkast]

Orsino hiding Blood Magic, unofficially supporting his friend in Blood Magic(And Necromancy stuff), and protecting suspected Blood Mages from even the Circle itself only served to push the issue a great deal and fueled Meredith's belief that what she was doing was "Right" with the idol enhancing her madness. This is because her own Templars were leaving the order, as the Idol was making her even more extreme over the years, which made her paranoid of her own Order.

 

Fenris is wrong though, the Mages that surrender to you if you went Templar side is proof that even desperate Mages will not resort to Blood Magic. They know what the RoA is yet they still threw themselves down for Hawke to decide their fate.

 

Orsino makes excuses for everything, he didn't even care about the women that Quentin. Throughout his entire appearances he tries to pretend Blood Magic and Blood Mages aren't an issue even when he has damning evidence in front of him. Heck, it was proven beyond a reasonable doubt that many Mages within HIS Circle, which he refused to take charge of, were using Blood Magic. 

 

Outside factors is a huge thing here. In Fereldan the Warden is able to solve things rather quickly due to forcing themselves into thing, while Hawke didn't have that luxury. Hawke didn't even know Meredith had the Idol for years or that Orsino was purposely hiding Blood Magic stuff for years as well instead of actually dealing with it on a permanent basis.

 

It wasn't some, the Blood Mage issue grows to becoming bigger and bigger over the years and allowed to fester. 

 

I didn't put it only on the Mages. My posts clearly place the blame on everyone as well as highlighting that Orsino was an enabler who was way too easily manipulated due to his lack of backbone. Meredith needed Orsino to rally the Mages to oppose her because even her own Order was questioning her and had more loyalty to Hawke, if you help the Templars, than her.

Orsino was backed into a corner and felt like it was his only option.  I'm not saying he was right, I'm just saying that's what he felt.  As to him not caring, he didn't know about the murders.  He knew Quentin was doing dangerous things to people and would have stepped in, but he cared more about having a weapon to use against the Templars should he ever need to.  Meredith, by all accounts, was far more draconian than most other Knight-Commanders in charge of a Circle, even before she was corrupted by the idol.  She would lock mages in cells and punish them harshly for small offenses.  There's a conversation you can have with Anders where he mentions mages having sex in the Ferelden Tower, and that something like that would never occur in Kirkwall.  When you treat mages like that, when you make them think that their only defense against the Templars in a situation where the Templars would turn on them and, I dunno, try to annul the Circle for the actions of an apostate, is blood magic then they're going to turn to blood magic.  Not all of them, certainly, but it's a better policy to govern with a light hand so fewer of them feel compelled to turn to it.  Maybe Orsino would have protected Quentin and other blood mages even if Meredith had been more lenient, but it's really impossible to say for certain.  If you're at the mercy of someone else and you feel they might turn on you for no rational reason then it would be perfectly understandable for you to do whatever it takes to safeguard your own life, every living being has that compulsion.

[MagicalMaster]

You're wasting your breath, Zenrockoutkast.  Elite Midget thinks Orsino saying "We'll surrender without a fight, let you lock us up, and help you search the tower as long as you don't just immediately execute all of us" means Orsino didn't try to surrender.

[Elite Midget]

Orsino did that for years and that crazy guy that murdered women was out and about, with Orsino's approval, for much of the story. So he wasn't always backed into a corner, he allowed Blood Magic to fester and gave his silent approval.

 

Orsino was giving the extremist all the ammo they needed with his actions in regards to Blood Magic. Though he denied it publicly he darn well know that Mages in his circle were practicing it, and did nothing to stop its growth as he only bothered when it could have bit him in the rear, and he approved of what Quentin was doing. Lives could have been saved had he actually got his house in order and gave Quentin away to the Templars. Heck, him helping the Templars out early on and being truthful with them would have GREATLY helped his cause as even with all the lies and secrets he kept there were still Templars defecting.

 

And we all know what happened to them, killed by the same Blood Mages that they were trying to help.

 

Furthermore, that was Meredith's decision which many of the Templars questioned and outright disobey if Hawke asks them to.

[zenrockoutkast]

Orsino did that for years and that crazy guy that murdered women was out and about, with Orsino's approval, for much of the story. So he wasn't always backed into a corner, he allowed Blood Magic to fester and gave his silent approval.

 

Orsino was giving the extremist all the ammo they needed with his actions in regards to Blood Magic. Though he denied it publicly he darn well know that Mages in his circle were practicing it, and did nothing to stop its growth as he only bothered when it could have bit him in the rear, and he approved of what Quentin was doing. Lives could have been saved had he actually got his house in order and gave Quentin away to the Templars. Heck, him helping the Templars out early on and being truthful with them would have GREATLY helped his cause as even with all the lies and secrets he kept there were still Templars defecting.

 

And we all know what happened to them, killed by the same Blood Mages that they were trying to help.

 

Furthermore, that was Meredith's decision which many of the Templars questioned and outright disobey if Hawke asks them to.

He didn't know Quentin was behind the murders, he only knew Quentin was doing dangerous research.  It's a see no evil sort of situation.

 

Again, mages are completely at the mercy of the Templars.  There is no living being that will not take steps to safeguard its own life in that situation, it's a basic compulsion.  If mages are made to feel that the Templars are reasonable, as in Ferelden, then there will be far less conflict and mages like Wynne and Irving will help to weed out blood magic.  When mages are made to feel that they're animals in a cage and that if the Templars turn on them they have no ability to defend themselves then they'll turn to blood magic.  I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that Meredith and the Order were provoking it and creating an environment where it was bound to thrive.

 

And no, the entire Order goes along with the Rite of Annulment right up until the final battle.  It's only after Orsino is defeated that Cullen asks her to revoke it.

[Jukaga]

I can't use the "Orsino knew Quintin" excuse, because it's meta-gamey. I had no clue who "O" was until Orsino himself finally admitted it. Which was long after I was trying to defend the Circle.

 

Of course, it's different for anyone who already guessed it. But I failed to.

 

I must have missed it, when did Orsino fess up to that? When he went full-retard?
 

[KaiserShep]

I must have missed it, when did Orsino fess up to that? When he went full-retard?
 

 

Orsino will quickly mention Quentin and how he knew of his experiments just before he turns into a harvester, and he also confesses in the pro-Templar story when he's confronted by Hawke and Meredith, but Hawke can actually respond to this, and Bethany will recoil and be angry with him.

 

As for "O"'s letter to Quentin, it doesn't matter if Hawke doesn't know who that is, because the letter was sent from the Circle.

[Jukaga]

Orsino will quickly mention Quentin and how he knew of his experiments just before he turns into a harvester, and he also confesses in the pro-Templar story when he's confronted by Hawke and Meredith, but Hawke can actually respond to this, and Bethany will recoil and be angry with him.

 

As for "O"'s letter to Quentin, it doesn't matter if Hawke doesn't know who that is, because the letter was sent from the Circle.

Ahh thanks, I was pretty lubricated when I beat the game the other night and it's a little fuzzy.

[Dean_the_Young]

Not Orsino's words or Meredith's, those are yours. 

 

Furthermore when Meredith told Orsino to ready the Mages for battle what did he do? Orsino went to bolster his defenses which was what Meredith wanted. Notice how she doesn't kill Orsino right than and there when she easily could have.

 

This is because slaughtering surrendering Mages who didn't fight or resisting wouldn't work. The Templars would instead want to take them captive, as those like Cullen didn't want unneeded bloodshed, and there's the Hawke factor if Hawke sided with the Templars as Meredith couldn't trust Hawke. So Meredith needed Orsino to rally the Mages into fighting the Templars, using Blood Magic and summoning Demons as that would give the RoA all the merit it needed to be carried out fully and Orsino did exactly that. 

 

Siding with the Templars proves how weak of a hold Meredith had on the order as the Templars outright ignore Meredith's orders, and the RoA, to slaughter all Mages and instead spare surrendering Mages if Hawke tells them that they should. If they followed the RoA and Meredith's orders fully than no Mage would even be given consideration for surrender. This in turn showcased that the Templars were uncomfortable with the RoA and many didn't believe that Meredith had the right to order it be carried out as she did.

 

However, with the Mages resisting and Demons appearing all over the place due to Blood Magic they couldn't openly refute her unless she stepped way out of line. Which Meredith eventually did.

 

Thus it was essentially for Meredith to have Orsino and the Mages, Blood Mage or not, to resist and she purposely pushed him to do as such and he fell right into her manipulations.

 

While I agree with your analysis about Meredith's strength and the importance of Orisino's resistance, I think you give Meredith a bit too much credit. As it was, I saw nothing to suggest she was doing anything but some twisted act of offering him an honorable resistance.

[Elite Midget]

It's not so much as I'm giving Meredith credit as I'm giving the Idol credit for twisting and driving her insane.

 

 

He didn't know Quentin was behind the murders, he only knew Quentin was doing dangerous research.  It's a see no evil sort of situation.

 

Again, mages are completely at the mercy of the Templars.  There is no living being that will not take steps to safeguard its own life in that situation, it's a basic compulsion.  If mages are made to feel that the Templars are reasonable, as in Ferelden, then there will be far less conflict and mages like Wynne and Irving will help to weed out blood magic.  When mages are made to feel that they're animals in a cage and that if the Templars turn on them they have no ability to defend themselves then they'll turn to blood magic.  I'm not saying it's right, but I am saying that Meredith and the Order were provoking it and creating an environment where it was bound to thrive.

 

And no, the entire Order goes along with the Rite of Annulment right up until the final battle.  It's only after Orsino is defeated that Cullen asks her to revoke it.

He knew very well what research Quentin was doing, he kept it very close at hand for a reason. The only thing he gets a pass on that despite knowing the research, knowing its contents, and having it in his possession he didn't resort to Blood Magic until he was facing death and the Circle was in ruins.

 

Hawke also knows that the Circle knew of what Quentin was doing and that Quentin had the blessing of someone powerful. Orsino's reveal proves that he didn't care for the lose of life that Quentin inflicted in the name of furthering the research. So Hawke, even if he/she didn't know til the end that Orsino was helping Quentin, he/she knew that someone powerful in the Circle. Than Hawke later learns about the huge Blood Mage issue in the Circle, that's plenty of reason to be distrustful that Orsino can get his house in order.

 

It's never excuse to resort to Blood Mage or to hide the use of Blood Magic which Orsino did. He knew many mages were doing Blood Magic and he covered for it and tried to have them killed off as discreetly as possible. It goes back that Orsino wanted to save the image of the Circle so that he could prevent he had a morale high ground when all he was doing was giving more fuel for Meredith to twist to try and push her flawed views and actions as "Correct" when what she was doing was basically murdering innocents.

 

Orsino should have acknowledged the Blood Mage issue and worked with the Chantry to try and fix it. By working hand-in-hand with the Chantry to try and solve the problem, as well as prevent it from being a problem again, he could have ruined Meredith's credibility and gained the people's love as many followed the Chantry's teaching.

 

They don't, the Order disobeys the Order if Hawke asks them too and spares Mages that surrender to Hawke.

[Darkly Tranquil]

Orsino probably didn't divulge what was going on because by Act 3, Meredith is pretty bonkers, and he most likely feared that telling Meredith would just give her an excuse to Annul the Circle anyway. From Orsino's perspective, tolerating (and covering for) the blood mages might have been the best way to protect the innocent mages in the Circle from Annulment alongside the blood mages. Of course, Anders comes along and blows up the Chantry, rendering all of Orsino's efforts moot and making Annulment inevitable, at which point Orsino is just like "Screw it, we're dead anyway, might well take some of them with us".

[Beerfish]

Orsino: "Promise not to MURDER us on the spot and we'll let you throw us all into prison without any resistance and help you search the tower if you want."

 

Meredith: "Hell no."

 

I don't know how it can get any clearer than that.

You conventionally forgot to mention that only happened after Orsino repeatedly refused to allow a search of the tower and after Anders blew things up.  After Anders blew things up that option was basically gone and Meredith had every right to say 'hell no'  Orsino had is chance and he blew it.

[MagicalMaster]

You conventionally forgot to mention that only happened after Orsino repeatedly refused to allow a search of the tower and after Anders blew things up.  After Anders blew things up that option was basically gone and Meredith had every right to say 'hell no'  Orsino had is chance and he blew it.

 

Anders has absolutely nothing to do with the Circle.  Even if Meredith had every Circle mage literally in chains 24 hours a day and had a Templar guard posted every 5 feet in the Circle Anders would have blown up the Chantry.

[Elite Midget]

Orsino did stonewall Meredith repeated, tried to raise the city against her, tried to pretend the Blood Mage/Abomination issue wasn't an issue, and was knowingly hiding Blood Mages. Meredith was already paranoid because of the idol, Orsino simply fed her insanity with how much resistance he gave her over the years as well as making it known rather vocally on how little  he thinks of Meredith.

Orsino probably didn't divulge what was going on because by Act 3, Meredith is pretty bonkers, and he most likely feared that telling Meredith would just give her an excuse to Annul the Circle anyway. From Orsino's perspective, tolerating (and covering for) the blood mages might have been the best way to protect the innocent mages in the Circle from Annulment alongside the blood mages. Of course, Anders comes along and blows up the Chantry, rendering all of Orsino's efforts moot and making Annulment inevitable, at which point Orsino is just like "Screw it, we're dead anyway, might well take some of them with us".

Blood Mages were plaguing the Circle during Act 1 and he was helping a known rogue mage, with very questionable research, all behind everyone's back. Orsino thinking that by keeping it a secret would protect mages was rather foolish of him as the problem only grew throughout the years and he did little or anything to curb that growth. 

 

Of course the Templars went all crazy the moment Abominations started flooding the streets. Notice how Cullen and the other Templars hesistate and differ to Hawke, over Meredith, when Mages surrender and don't appear to be Abominations. Point is that Templars are people too and many didn't agree with the RoA as Meredith had ordered it before any deliberations and they had no official backing for  it.

[Darkly Tranquil]

I still don't think that Orsino was intentionally malicious, naïve, perhaps wilfully blind to what was happening and around him, but not malicious. I' sure he was trying his best to serve his people. I think he was well intentioned, but in over his head an ultimately incompetent. That said, given what he was dealing with, a city overrun with supernatural and mundane disorder and violence, and dealing with an authoritarian bully like Meredith, I tend to think he was pretty much doomed no matter what he did. Nothing short of total compliance and obedience would be enough for Meredith, and the mages might as well be dead if they had to live under those conditions.