In mapping other parts of my world (see here) I'm trying a slighty different blend of FT and photoshop.
Concerning the problem of the fractal pattern showing at closer zooms, after trying various work-arounds, I found that simply applying a slight blur to the layer with the shadows helps a lot.

Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Kiryakor.jpg 
Views:	130 
Size:	480.4 KB 
ID:	38614