[Jack Simth]

Well, it's your turn now, Krsqk. Lead the demoralized bandits in, so you can start shooting at them.

As for how the general populace would view mages and magic, most would likely be suspicious and fearful, unless they have enough resources to employ one, or have worked closely with mages. They don't age in the span of a normal mans life, they are never disarmed (can't remove their ability to throw lightning/fireballs as readily as you can take a bow from an archer), and are very hard to catch at what they do (due to teleports, invisibility, flight, or whatever). With long lifespans, many mages would refuse to closely associate with non-mages to avoid the inevitable pain when the mage outlives the non-mage. A mage isn't easily disarmed, so they would be watched much like one might watch someone who carries a sword around all the time. A mage isn't easily caught in wrongdoing, and is difficult to bring to account even if caught, so it would be difficult for mages to defend themselves from charges of theft/murder/whatever.

None of this would be good for their reputation.

Some people would consider it too much power to have in the hands of individuals, some would be jealous of that power, others would be fearful, some might consider it an affront against all that is good, while those who have worked with mages might consider them skilled craftsmen. The first three Groups would likely spread tales of magic abused, while the Last group would be the only real check against mages being vilified. If that group is large (mages are common and often work with non-mages) then magic will be well-regarded by most in most areas. If that group is small (mages aren't so common and/or don't often work with non-mages) then magic will be poorly regarded. It basically comes down to how common magic Users are. Either way, however, magic wouldn't be commonly understood by non-mages; how well do most understand the practice of law, the practice of medicine, car repair, computer programming, or most other forms of skilled labor? Those without some knoweledge of them might very well consider them to be random and mystic. Those with some knoweledge of them would consider them quite orderly. As pretty much only mages will have knoweledge of magic, those comments likely stand.

As for Jack's antics, keep in mind he's only done the fancy stuff around a very few people. The gaurds caught him teleporting a bolt, and putting up a shield - both reasonably normal things to do, as far as magic is concerned. Most mages we've encountered can do teleports of various sorts, and shields are a bit of a staple of fantasy. The only people not in the party that saw the spacewarp were the bug and the psi - nobody else was around. Other than perhaps the specific application, Jack hasn't actually done anything in public that the local mages haven't, other than perhaps some illusion (which would only have been noticed by the doorman, who was present when it happened). John recognized it for what it was, and so is pretty obviously familiar with it. The fancy stuff has pretty much all been in isolated circumstances, with few witnesses. Granted, he is a lot freer with his spells than most of the local mages, and so might be viewed as more powerful, and that might have an effect. However, unless the various mages are spreading rumors, the fancy aspects wouldn't have reached the general populace yet.