I'll just add a bit more of information here.
Yes, there are bad and good guys, but this concept depends on the point of view... someone may see himself/herself as good, viewing the other as bad and vice-versa. And yes, robbery is coded, you can rob/be robbed on the road. I was robbed between Rouen and Eu, but lost only 4 louis (french currency).
Regarding going from town to town, depends on the nodes. For example: London - NODE - town X, I believe it would take 2 days. The map of England is being worked on, and in France there is one - which I'll try to find. I know that they have two Duchies: Normandy (composed of Eu and Rouen) and Isle de France, composed of Paris. There is also the Vatican, with the Saint Peter's Square.
In Institutions, there's the Court. "Les lois Comtales", which is to be translated, is where the County Laws will be located.
Regarding the Council/Mayor, I'm raising some money to finance a list who may wish to run - I'll not run. I'd like it to be players who don't hold any job already in the game and who would like to work for the town.
As said before, you need 15 points of esteem to lvl up to the 2nd lvl. And for the 3rd lvl, 30 points of esteem. And the max lvl until now is the 4th, I think... but I don't know what you can do in the 4th and in the 3rd.