Midenhall

LOCATION: You start the game here. Finding it is a cinch. You just sit through the introduction (sorry, had to do it).

Once you've followed the king down the stairs, you should look left to the treasure chest and open it. Inside, you'll find a COPPER SWORD and 50 GOLD.

There's not much else to do here, unless you want to buy some medical herbs for a long trip. Later, you'll find the antidote herbs handy, but you shouldn't invest in those just yet. Your hero can only carry eight items at once, including his weapon and armor, and there aren't any poisonous enemies for a while yet.

Since your level is quite low at this point, you should head just outside of town and fight monsters long enough to raise it. There are slimes and big slugs near the castle, so you can walk up and down to the right of the building on the map to safely grow stronger without wandering far from a health refill at an inn. It only costs you 4 gold pieces to stay the night at this point in the journey, so it's an easy way to build levels. I suggest increasing your level to 3 or 4, depending on your skill. It's possible to go northwest with less, but a leisurely pace is the best way to enjoy the game.

Once you're at level 4, there's really no point in staying here any longer. Some of the enemies will run from battle, just because your level is so high. Now is a good time to follow the coast to your northwest and find the next village.