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MISSIONS

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what it means to be a witch

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it costs money in order to summon a witch. the higher or more esteemed the witch's rank is, the more tax you must pay to the government for calling upon the witch. as a result, only people with serious issues can afford to call on higher leveled witches. it does create a difference in standing between the rich and poor, and is probably not the strongest point regarding the day-to-day function in in salem and sundial.
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when a witch is summoned, they will receive word through their witch license and will either accept or deny the request within an 18hr time frame. if denied, the same signal will be sent to another witch. sometimes a "mass signal" will be sent, (usually highly expensive or government-reserved) in which all witches of a capable group will be notified. if you accept, you will transported to the location if it is within sundial or to the nearest watch tower if it is in the wilderness.
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the money paid by the requester is given to the council, and the money given to the witch is given by the council. during this transaction, the government often takes a portion of the profit, which most neutral or dark aligned witches call "the coward's share" or just "the share." while this is mostly known by the populace, it is not uncommon at all for younger or less experienced witches to have no idea about this system.
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all such requests are monitored by the council (since they go through to the witch's licence) however, some darker groups like leviathan or mercenary groups like silvertongue choose to take "direct" requests in which the requester must file a mission directly to the coven. "the share" is omitted, and these requests to not have to abide with the law of sundial. taking them is up to the morals of the individual witch or coven. these are usually called "directs" or just "requests" (with a certain air to it though, unlike the normal 'request').
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though it is not illegal, the government is always positioned against them and is usually searching for evidence of illegal requests made through these directs to paint a (un)fair picture on them in the media

there is a network of "sensors" at work across sundial that help to pinpoint the misuse of magic through magical tracking. sometimes sensors go off despite using authorized spells and scrolls, much to the chagrin of the general public. regardless, it helps reduce crime and genuine complaints are usually few far and in between. some areas have been made "sensor free" due to petitioning, but most of sundial is "secure."
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when a witch takes on an authorized mission, the council and concerned authorities enable 'allowance' on the witch's license to allow them to perform spells and scrolls without worrying about being sirened by sensors. it helps keep the sensor network away from overloading and makes things much easier. a witch will only have to legally answer for highly destructive spells or extreme/unwarranted injury onto others. this system also allows the council to be stricter with punishments for "direct" requests as the bypass is not granted for witches taking such requests.
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fines for minor and not exactly high-profile misuse of magic are often billed to the coven directly as oppose to the individual witch. covens have different reactions to this, for example, jester's den pokes fun at the concept by having what the call "the wall" - it's a magical bulletin where bills are sent and pinned until a higher up can get to allocating funds. because of the highly destructive nature of its members, it even includes a "bps" or a bills per second meter which shows how well badly the coven is doing. it also includes the maximum of that particular day, and the all-time highest.
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when covens host functions or festivals, they buy or order "restriction bypass licenses" or REBYL cards from the council. these cards create areas where the use of magic can go undetected. this is another attempt at keeping the sensor network clean and safe from malfunction. despite the government's best efforts, REBYL do circulate in the blackmarket. and they sell high, too.
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note: these bypass licenses are buyable items and cannot be used in roleplay unless bought.