Taryn Ridge
Speak to Jarvis in the Taryn Ridge courtyard and you can accept the Defense of Taryn Ridge (500 exp.) quest. This quest can only be completed at night after 8:00 p.m. (according to the time on the map); also, if Jarvis dies in this quest, you cannot receive the Bandit Trouble (150 gold, 500 exp.) quest.
Enter the Red Lion Inn and speak to Sufok, completing that quest. At this time, Sufok will give you the Find Darius (1,000 exp.) quest as well as the deed to his grey stallion.
You can also speak to Ian and accept the A Stolen Jewel (50 gold, 250 exp.) quest and find Sirus Wilholme in the last inn room on the second floor.
You may also accept Wilholme's quest An Ambush for Ian (100 gold, 250 exp.) too. Go downstairs and complete the stolen jewel quest and return to Wilholme's room to complete the ambush quest.
When you exit the inn, you may collect loot from the chest in the farthest house to your right. If you try to take loot from any other house, you will become an outlaw.
You can also complete the Delivery quest with Raquel and receive the Assistance (60 gold, 750 exp.) quest from her.
There is a chest in the sea to the left of the fishing spot and behind a boulder.
Guard Rakthor, posted at the wooden bridge closest to Taryn Ridge can also give you the Chief Kargath (350 gold, 1000 exp plus a piece of armor or weapon) quest.
Facing toward Taryn Ridge and away from Guard Rakthor, walk to the left and reach Craythorn Lake. The willow leaves you will need to collect for the Assistance quest are around the bottom and right side of the lake (there are four bushes) as well as on the island in the lake.
Go to Kyle Stronghand's Lair and kill him. There are two chests in Stronghand's lair plus the loot you will receive from Stronghand himself and his followers.
Collect the willow leaves from around Craythorn Lake (four plants including one on the island in the lake).
Enter Ug's Lair and accept the Kill Og (250 gold, 1200 exp.) quest. I always get as many willow leaves here as possible. Every time you go into and come back out of one of the caves you can get new leaves so by the time I am done with quests around the lake, I have about 20-25 leaves.
Helga's Ring Quest - when you enter Og's lair to kill him, you will notice that he has a green exclamation point over his head. This is for the Helga's Ring quest. I never complete this quest because Helga's Ring is an invaluable tool throughout the game and if you complete this quest and return the ring to Og, you cannot get it back, even if you kill him.
Return to Ug's Lair and complete the Kill Og quest. Kill Ug and take Helga's Ring plus any other loot you may receive.
From Ug's Lair looking toward the lake, travel to the right to Kargath's Lair. Enter the Lair and kill Kargath. There are three chests in the Lair, one which is hidden behind a waterfall. To locate it, cross the first ridge after you have entered the Lair and come to the second bridge. There will be a waterfall on your left. Dive into the water and swim underneath the waterfall. The chest is at the back of the little cavity. After you have killed Kargath, exit the Lair and return to Guard Rakthor to complete the quest.
Using Helga's Ring - one of the best ways to use Helga's ring is to help you get out of different spaces. In Kargath's Lair, for example, you can jump from the bridge nearest to his location to the cave entrance without hurting yourself rather than having to go back through the entire cave.
Choosing Rewards - sometimes you will be given the choice of weapons or armor as part of the reward for a quest, like Chief Kargath. If you don't like the choices you are given and are only accepting something to complete the task, I've listed below a few tips to consider.
Armor - armor almost invariably gives you more gold than weapons, assuming that the weapons and armor are close to the same levels (e.g. balanced armor with quality weapons).
Potions - if you have the chance to take potions, I almost always take them. Potions cost a lot of money to buy so any chance I have to obtain a decent potion, I take it. If the potion is being offered as part of a reward, it is more likely to be a better potion than ones you would receive ordinarily.
Weapons - if you only have the option of accepting weapons, then here is the breakdown of which weapons are worth most to least: axes, swords, (primary, then secondary mostly), hammers, bows, staffs. This list isn't an absolute but is meant to be a general guide for reference.
At this point, I become an outlaw. There are several low level people in Taryn Ridge you can fight and take loot from that will help you get more gold and level up. You can also fight people like Raquel and Guard Rakthor, who are level 20 and 29 respectively who will help you level up quickly. The hardest to kill is the tradesman in Harwen's Wares and I usually stay away from that house because it is so difficult to kill both Harwen and the tradesman.
After you have finished in Taryn Ridge, you can ride your grey stallion to Callaheim. You can enter the sewers directly from outside the Callaheim gate - there is a structure to the right of the gate. This is an entrance to the sewers (there is another just like it on the North Kingdom side too). Go to Quentin and have yourself changed to Neutral. Then you can use your safety ring to teleport to West Callaheim.
