1. I wouldn't go with a pure white glow on the text precisely because it contrasts heavily with the parchment background. The broad style that you're trying to get appears to be somewhere between ink on parchment and woodcut: for both of these styles, text contrast would be far more likely to be the absence of elements around text rather than paint over the elements. If you can do a layer mask around the text to knock out the mountain and coastline layers for just a few pixels around the text, I think that it would look much more consistent.

2. Font choice is a highly personal effect that has a significant effect on the overall map. The font that you used is classic blackletter font that tends to evoke for me a particular period in German history. I do recommend using similar (or at least compatible) typefaces on a single map. The use of blackletter and antiqua fonts on the same map strikes me as odd, especially if you're going for a hand-drawn style.

3. For me, the main map features are still at odds with the computer-generated elements. The CG elements appear to be done in a woodcut style that is quite different stylistically from the mountains and coastlines. I do understand that it's tough to do hand-lettering, btw. One thing that might help is to use a displacement map on the CG elements to avoid the straight lines and sharp edges on the text.

I'm guessing the reddish marks are supposed to be bloodstains. However, blood turns a dark brownish color pretty quickly. See http://www.cartographersguild.com/sh...?t=7564&page=6 for an example.