There was no rush to get the escort (as long as you didn't forget about it, and get into some of the later, more involved main plot quests). Likewise, there is no need to do the army quests right away (especially at such a low level).
In general, if things are too tough, try exploring in a different direction, or check merchants for better equipment. Try Ars Magicana, north east of the farmlands, to the far east of the cursed abbey; you should have less trouble reaching there if you stay close to the paths.
Have you finished off the Aleroth catacombs, and cleared the orcs around that town? The troll cave west of the bridge may be a little tough now, and you should wait until you get the quest in the farmlands to clear it out before doing so. I started exploring to the south of the farmlands, castle, etc but had trouble with giant orcs (SE) and troll kings (SW). I switched directions, and went north east, which is probably the easiest area in the section of Rivertown east of the river (outside of the farmlands and other populated areas). After that I did some of the north west area (around the cursed abbey); it would be easier with a ranged attack, compared to melee, though Spell Shield can help out with the poison attacks (damage comes off the shield, and your character doesn't jerk around with a lowered offense/defense from the poison). Spellbooks can be bought, though early in the game you may not have a lot of gold or loot to trade with.
I'm not sure what level is adequate for various areas. Checking some of my old saves, I was level 10 after getting the quest to blow up the supply train, after which I headed back to clear the area west of the river. I went through a fair bit of the rest of the map, and was level 18 when I went back to the army camp to clear the south east corner (south of the dwarven bread inn, and east of the army camp) and blow up the supply train. I still had not been to the cursed abbey, but had cleared the south west corner of the map. The cursed abbey may be a little difficult until you are at least in the high teens for character level; I think I was in the low twenties by the time I got there (cleared the orcs out first).
If you can find or buy a spider statuette, it will allow you to do the army quests fairly easily. Orcs are friendly towards spiders, and you will only need to transform back to a human briefly to place the explosives.
Instead of heading straight to the supply train, stay to the north a bit, where there are weaker opponents, then head east. After forming a path, you can slowly work your way south by clearing successive east/west strips of land. That way you can take out the weaker opponents first and would not get completely surrounded (the only live orcs would be to the south); if you attract any groups, you will have room to withdraw, so they spread out a bit chasing you, and then turn to fight again (assuming a couple spin attacks don't take care of the weaker orcs, if you are playing a warrior).
Free skills, and spell books you can buy (minor spoilers)
Early Starter Tips (NON-Spoiler Version)Welcome to the forum.
