[ WP ] Each village has a designated `` scapegoat '' that everyone takes their issues out on . Write about the life of this person .

*Embrace the hate* was his mantra. *Smile, and the world smiles with you. * 
 
 He learned in his teenage years that he could n't argue with people. He could n't sway them. That was n't his purpose. Sold as a baby by his parents whom he never knew, Nolan was the blasmer - the Blamed One. 
 
 He attended the High Court every morning and every evening, listening to the villagers air their grievances in front of the magistrate. Most times they could come to an agreement and all parties would leave satisfied. Such was the case yesterday, when the old farmer's fence finally gave way to rot. Nolan accepted the blame and agreed to repair the fence that afternoon. 
 
 But sometimes, like today, they could n't reach an agreement. 
 
 `` I want him castrated!'' The villager screamed. `` My wife is pregnant with a child not my own! *He* did it! He soiled her honor and my family's honor! Cut his prick off!'' 
 
 `` Why do you want my cock?'' Nolan asked innocently. `` To take it home to please your wife?'' 
 
 The High Court erupted in laughter while the aggrieved man's face turned bright red. He tried to sputter a reply but failed miserably. When the laughter eventually died down, the magistrate returned to business. No, Nolan was guilty. He was the blasmer, but he would leave today with his manhood intact. His punishment was to see to the health of the woman at least once a day until the child was born. Whatever the household might need, Nolan would see to it. He might do some housework, or cook or clean. He might fetch the local midwife or bring in food or medicine. 
 
 Most villagers despised the Blamed One for the misfortune he brought to the village, but no one would deny that he always sought to make it right. Nolan did whatever restitution was required of him - praying at the temple after a poor harvest, making repairs to roofs and fences, catching animals that got out of their pens, and taking care of the ill and elderly. 
 
 And yet Nolan, with his charming smile and quick wit, was still loved by many. Why, he had fathered more bastard children than any man in the village - one or two of them even his own! 
 
 And they could n't touch him. He was protected by the law of men and gods. No matter what he said. No matter what heinous act he committed ( if no other could be prosecuted ), the blasmer had his purpose and the gods would not be disobeyed. That was how he lived his days, caring for the village and its people with a smile on his face, and often a quick retort on his lips.
