Nashkel & The Nashkel Fair
Cheat Item #3 found here
If you head into the Inn, then another assassin will attack, killing her will net gold & a few items - including a helmet of infravision.  Note that this Inn does not have Royal accomodation.
The storekeep next door will tell you to keep a lookout for a winter wolf - and asks for its pelt.  Winter wolves are not uncommon, and for every pelt you return to the storekeep, he will give you 500gp.
Talking to Berrun Ghastkill will give you your first main quest(If talking to the commoners hadn't already told you what needed to be done).

A little ways south of Berrun on the path you will meet up with Oublek - who will first mistake you for Greywolf, a bounty hunter.  You can either accept his 200gp, or decline and earn a reputation point.
Further along is Minsc, a ranger is a bit lacking in the brains department.  However, he does have a great strength and will ask you to help him rescue Dynaheir, a friend of his, trapped at the Gnoll Stronghold(which will appear on your map).  Minsc is very valuable to any party, and you can get him to join you and he will be valuable in the Nashkel mines.  Don't try and go rescue Dynaheir straight away, as you don't have the skills required(i.e. you're not high enough a level).  However, after completing the Mines, don't dawdle too long before going to rescue Dynaheir, as if you take too long, Minsc will actually turn on you.  If this starts happening, then the only solution is to temporarily drop him from your party, go rescue Dynaheir and then come back for Minsc.  If you talk to him, do not refuse him entry into your party, as he will attack you.

Edwin, a Lawful Evil conjurer, is on a bridge which is south west from Minsc(just follow the path) - and he will ask you to help him kill Dynaheir.  I personally don't think Edwin is all the great, so I usually just ignore him.  If you reach Dynaheir with Edwin and do not kill her, Edwin will leave. If you do not go kill Dynaheir within a certain time, Edwin will leave.
If both Minsc & Edwin are in your party when you rescue Dynaheir, you must either side with Edwin or Dynaheir & Minsc. If you side with Dynaheir & Minsc, Edwin will leave.  *Edwin seems to leave a lot. :)*

There is a big house in the north east of town, if you search through the bookcases on the bottom floor (in the little side room that the nobleman who talks to you comes out of) you will find three magic scrolls: Magic missile, armor, and shield.
A house south of there contains a woman who will ask you to be quiet/leave as her mother is sleeping.  If you ask her about the mines she will tell you her husband(Joseph) works there.

Now head off to the carnival.  If you explore this area, there will be kobolds, and possibly ogre beserkers.  If you happen to meet up with ogre beserkers - utilise ranged weapons, as they are quite powerful in melee combat.

There are several stores that sell basic items around the fair, but the best thing about these merchants is that you can sell weapons to them for better prices than at the Nashkel store.  However, if you sell a lot of one item to a particular storekeep, the amount of gold he will subsequently pay you for the same item will probably be less than the selling price of another merchant - so shop around and make as much money as you can.

The two large round tents are gambling tents, in the western one, a master thief will walk towards you after you enter, and steal gold off you.  However, you can kill him(without suffering a reputation hit) and net gold, a potion of agility, and a potion of master thievery.

Just south off the gambling tents is 'The Great Gazib'.  If you keep talking to him, you will get yourself into a fight, which will give you a few things and a bit of exp.

Further south is a tent containing Zordral and Bentha.  If you insult Zordral, he will not kill Bentha, and attack you instead.
Zordral will almost immediately cast a mirror image spell - so if you have a quick offensive spell, i.e. magic missile or an equivalent, cast that immediately so it will hit him while he is casting that spell.  This will make it a lot easier to kill him.
After killing Zordral, you can then talk to Bentha, who will give you an item depending on what you say to her.
If you ask for nothing, you will receive a potion of heroism.  If you ask for magic you will get an antidote.
Alternatively, you can let Zordral kill Bentha and get some gold, both the antidote & potion of heroism, and her mage robe.

The tent south of there contains a merchant very eager to sell you potions.  While the potions do what he tells you they do, they also reduce two other attributes to 3 - and the potions last for 24 hours.  His chests hold quite a bit if you can get into them - but you should probably kill him first so he doesn't summon any guards when you break into them.

If you head northeast, you should come across Zeke - who will offer to sell you a stone to flesh scroll.  You can either buy it off him, or head back to Nashkel and buy one from the temple and save yourself some gold.  Branwen is a decent cleric, and has the special ability spiritual hammer(x3), but you will need to buy her some items.

You can scrounge around the chests at the fair for some weapons and gold, then head off to the Nashkel mines.

The Nashkel Mines
Cheat Item #4 found here
Before going down the Nashkel mines, there are a few things you can do.  Southeast and go into the little hut that you find.
You will probably find a few kobolds about the place, a ghoul, and a winter wolf.  You will also come across Prism, the artist who has stolen a couple of emeralds(If you have asked Oublek about unclaimed bounties, he will have told you this).
 
I suggest saving BEFORE talking to Prism, as you may need to come back to here later on.
You should choose to defend Prism, and when you do, Greywolf the bounty hunter will come to talk to you. If you defend Prism, Greywolf will attack you.  Greywolf is a fairly nasty customer, and unless you get lucky you won't be able to kill him.  As many people as possible should be using ranged weapons, and a cleric should have all spells as entangle.  Even so, you will probably still need to hit kill him in hand to hand combat.  Greywolf is very dangerous, as he hits for a large amount of damage and always does +1 cold damage.  This damage is due to the fact that he has a +2 long sword which also does +1 cold damage.  So, if you manage to kill him you get a very nice bonus.
 
Go down into the mine quarry, and talk to Emerson, who will tell the guards to let you in. While he says you have 24 hours, you can take as long as you like. Try and fully explore each level of the mines, as you will get more experience and items to sell for money that way.  On level 1 you should find Miner Dink, who will ask you to return a dagger to Miner Kylee(on level 2). When you do this, you will earn 200xp.

When you get to the third level, pick up a greenstone ring from the dead man, you can give this ring back to the lady who asked about her husband Joseph in Nashkel.  From here, things start to get a little harder.  When crossing the 'bridge' send your thief ahead with detect traps on to save yourself getting hurt.  If your thief cannot detect any, just walk around slowly until a red outline shows up.  There will be a few enemies around this bottom section, including a ghoul, a couple of spiders, and a kobold commando.(Who shoots flame arrows).  When you get to the tunnel down, its time for your thief to get to work again disarming traps.

Going along from here, you will come across another kobold commando guarding a door. You may want to kill a ghoul(head south around the centre isle) or two gray ooze(challenging fight - head north), but do not leave the area by clicking behind where the gray ooze where, as this will put you in dangerous territory.  Before heading into the door the commando was guarding, try and be fully healed before heading inside - as things can get hairy.

You'll find some kobolds inside, and you would probably be best to kill them off.  Then go talk to Mulahey. This will put you in a bit of a fight, with Mulahey calling in some reinforcements. Once they are all dead, you will probably want to raid Mulahey's chest; picking up the scrolls inside will take you to chapter 3.

Xan(an enchanter - and owner of the moonblade in the chest) is also in this cavern, in the room next to Mulahey's.  He is a bit gloomy, but for non evil parties, he could be a good addition.  Leave the mines by the way you came back in, and go see Berrun Ghastkill with the evidence you picked up in Mulahey's crest to get 900gp & 1000xp.