Label Style Help

[MediocreMemory]

I've recreated a map I've been meaning to for some time now. The original looked similar to a small child's rendition but after many tutorials and the like, I've come up with one I'm very proud of. However, I'm having difficulty with the labels. I know where and what each label is but the style is where I fall short. Every style I've tried has either been too bold, too hard to read, or completely contradictory with the style. I would like the labels to be visible without taking over the map but I'm not sure how to accomplish this. Any suggestions or links to tutorials that feature a type that could work?

Here's the map:
Attachment 29530

[Ascension]

The thing is to keep them small in order to not overpower the rest of the image. This, then, rules out a lot of the ornamental and decorative fonts. Sans serif fonts, hand-written fonts (that are legible), basic fonts, and some art deco poster type fonts are good. You want things to be legible so save the uber-cool black letter fonts for the big splash title. The other thing is to use a color that will show up but not look garish. People often pick reds and blacks to show how evil something is but that usually looks totally dumb on green grass. Next, don't go overboard with using a lot of different fonts - make all the cities one font, nations one font, etc. Well, that's the rule but I like to use all of one kind of font for one nation and a different font for another nation. Next, make sure that you vary the size to determine the difference between a city and a village and a kingdom. Lastly, don't go overboard with decorating on small labels; again, save that for the title. Use a stroke and outer glow; drop shadows and bevels are a gray area but if they don't screw up the legibility then ok. For your map, here, I'd suggest any of these: yellows, golds, light tans, light oranges, light grays, and white. You could probably get away with light green, light blue, and black (with a white outer glow).

Nice mountains, by the way - they blend in nicely.

[MediocreMemory]

Thank you very much for the help! And for the mountains, learned them from your tutorials