I'm very flattered that you find my maps an inspiration, XCali - thank you

As to the side map issue - I'm not really sure I know what you mean. I've not heard the term 'side map' before. Are you thinking of doing an inset map to show the hidden detail of the inner city, a separate map of some kind, or something else?

Earlier you were talking about blending the bottom of the cliff more into the sand. I think you have already managed to do this quite successfully just to the left of the entrance to the Inner City, where the bottom of the cliff is more or less the same colour as the sand. Along the rest of its length the foot of the cliff is quite a lot lighter than the sand, but I'm not really sure that either way could be considered 'wrong' at all.