First off, welcome to the server
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When I was new to the server I made a point of killing things that dropped Fine Steel Weapons with a merchant who would trade with me near by. Entirely possible to make an average of 700pp per level between 16-26. I say per hour because you make less money at lower levels because it takes fewer kills to level and more at higher levels.
For armor, pick up some banded or just /ooc and ask if anyone has any bronze. If you sit in Highhold Keep at the Goblins, most folks there will probably give you any bronze gear that drops (I usually just give it to Osargen for style points).