It can be difficult sometimes to tell what a much larger area map is really showing when you start to drill down to try and provide more detail. I often look at things like symbol titles and fill/drawing tool names where there aren't more detailed map notes (and I discovered at least one earlier Atlas map where the map notes were hidden off to one side of the map - by quite some distance, and on a hidden layer; I assume this was before things were standardised to have the text-file map notes attached separately, and as a PDF in many cases).

In the end, it's best to design what seems interesting to you that doesn't contradict whatever was shown on the larger regional map, which pretty much seems to be what you have done!

Geology! You can find an explanation for any landform that way if you hunt long and hard enough (speaking as a once-upon geologist)!

A few of the labels are a little too close to the map edge - one or two seem to run slightly beyond it, e.g. Wirbilini Woods and Taggtrum R(iver) - which is another issue with text in CC, where the text's position shifts at different resolutions/export settings.

That can usually be solved by making sure you have the correct location point for the text before placing it (such as "mid left", "top right", etc.), because the text will only expand/contract away from that point, so it's effectively fixed to that spot. It can be tedious having to remember to change it every time if you're doing a lot of labels in different places, although you can use the shortcut arrow keys instead once the text is on your cursor to be placed.

You mentioned thinking of putting some elements onto a separate layer that could be toggled on and off. For this map, I think it's probably better to have both the regional borders and their labels on all the time. With just the labels, it's impossible to guess exactly what they refer to otherwise, including identifying how far Gongodur extends.

Sue's saved me having to comment about the fonts - thanks Sue! - but for the labelling in general, because there's quite a lot happening mostly in the mountains, I'd suggest thinking of moving the labels, where practical, out onto the plain grassland green areas, which might help with the font style & colours issues. I'd also be inclined to think of shortening the title scroll, and moving it too onto the plains, so it's hiding less of the "interesting" terrain it currently partly overlies.

The river lines are definitely improved now. That around Mt Haymish and Tuncaster is a little too angular in places though (Beck River). Where that same river curves towards Middleham, it may look better to have it follow the break in terrain fills, instead of cutting through them. You might find it easier to erase and redraw this river using a smooth-path river drawing tool, instead of trying to adjust it where it is now. I usually end up doing that, at least!

On the political borders version, the edge colours are very distracting, and make it hard to know where the river lines are. I suspect it would look better with just the shading effect on the areas outside Gongodur, as that'll still highlight where the borders are sufficiently, with luck. You may need to add some new shading to the areas on the east and south map edges, however. This would avoid the oddity of the mountain peaks being overlain by the border colours (though you could move those lines to a sheet below the mountain symbols instead, of course).

Unless there's a strong plotline reason, it may be worth reconsidering having the southern Gongodur border cutting through the symbol in the Valley of Dread, as presently.

EDIT: Forgot! The compass indicator probably needs enlarging, and again moving to somewhere less terrain-interesting. It's rather too well-hidden where it is now (which is naturally why I forgot it 😉).

Map nine in my little set of ten is for Skara Hamlet:

The usual WIP and Gallery updates are elsewhere on the Forum for this map, plus the FCW and PDF notes files for it are below: