Wow, this is actually a game I'm tempted to try (a project for the summer)! It combines some elements (both design- and rule-wise) from titles I really like and play often, but is also quite original, not just a mix of ideas. I recall you briefly mentioning working on a game with Smallworld-esque card combination character generation, so I'm glad this project is taking a definite shape!
I really like the art on the town segments, and the sepia colour choice is great - though it's somehow a pity that the descriptions cover up some of those details!! Especially that the focal point of the segments is in the center. E.g. on "Gardens" you can't see the most interesting parts, with the con-joining lakes (?) and, well, the garden itself. Same goes for "Palace". It's just sad to see the great art eaten up by (an otherwise well-designed, organic and informative) text-box.
Another nice touch (for me at least) is the nice, simple design of the basic icons (attributes and rewards). But the gold coins and the honour points on the hexagonal markers seem kinda 'off', sorry, can't explain any better. I understand that you don't want to use the b&w icons there as well, but somehow they bother me - everything is flat, but these two are rendered with shadows and colour. Not a big problem, though. If I played Town Guard, I would probably substitute these two marker types (as they are moved around quite a bit during the game) with some plastic tokens or glass beads - easier to pick up than even the sturdiest cardboard, harder to damage, easier to wash pop-corn butter off of them But that's probably an issue for furhter stages of production.
There are a couple of quirky things about this project because it's being specifically designed for a contest on "The Game Crafter". The game needs to include 12 figures, and needs to have a cost price under $30. This means that there are certain restrictions in what I can include for the basic set (about 108 cards, 70 assorted tokens, 12 figures, 12 location tiles, a box).
I've fine tuned the rules a bit based on the first round of feedback...and I'll be modifying the location tiles a bit in order to show more of the town layout...I'll upload the new rules soon.