The World of Catara

Magic is considered to be rare on Catara. This has of course an effect on how the common people react when they see it. At the very least magic will provoke astonishment and wonder. If the magic user is not readily recognizeable as part of the Church or the Cult or the Royal Mage Order, people will at least be suspcious, if not outright hostile.
Witches vs “Legal” Mages
If you are seen doing magic and people have reasons to assume you are not part of any of the established mage groups, you will be deemed a witch.
Witches will be feared, persecuted, or simply killed on the spot, depending on the circumstances.
Every player who plays a magic-using character will have an easy option of joining one of the established guilds. Until these are implemented some sort of leeway is given by the DMs.
However even being a “Legal” mage will still make people unsure of you, especially if your name is not known.
Established and legal Mage Groups

The various churches & Holy Orders. Those who do not want to follow a specific god are collected in Elegils church
The Brotherhood of the Ring, the Wizard-Guild of the Cult of Nine (male wizards only)
Being a trained Cult mage, but not member of the Brotherhood is possible too.
The Bards guild, which is an extension of the church of Ephemis
The Cult offers several other orders that train and protect magic users. Examples are the Order of the Eye, Order of the Sun or the Order of the Winds.

Animal summons:
If they behave and look like a trained animal, the most you’d get is probably a few raised eyebrows. “Dangerous” animals (dire bears, big nasty looking wolves”) will cause a stir if not leashed and / or very obviously restrained. City Guards might ask you to “restrain the beast”, or leave the town with it.
Magical critters:
If you are a well-known mage (which no one under level 15 is), you may get away with having an imp familiar following you. In every other case people will be suspecting witchery. Inherently evil looking summons will get you into trouble for sure.
The act of summoning / unsummoning:
Rangers calling animal companions or mages summoning their familiars are treated as “calling the creature out from hiding”. We will eventually disable the FX for these two things.
Every other summoning will invariable cause commoners and city guards to react at least nervously or even with fear and loathing, unless the mage is clearly a guild member and acting to defend someone / acting in some magic show.
General Rule:
Whatever you do: Keep in mind that magic is rare, and people are fond to think of “Witches everywhere”. Most people have the mindset of late middle ages / early renaissance on earth. While they are open for enlightement, scary magic will throw them back a lot.
Even a mage in an order can be considered dangerous, especially if they cast spells on another without asking. Even Cantrips and non-harmful spells can be mistrued easily.