Is there any place near the swamp to find basic armor for free?

I'm about 9 hours in, just finished all the work I needed to do to meet the Don in the bandit camp.

Believe it or not, I am still in the tattered rags you start the game with. Gold is SOO tight in this game, I simply did not want to lay out the 500 GP for the basic workers clothes. Not when I had to use money for equipment and training fees.

I am also not quite ready to join the bandits yet (which I assume gets you free armor) because I want to explore the island and do quests for other factions before I am locked in.

So … my question is … can I FIND armor anywhere? I mean, it doesn't have to be fancy, just something better than the virtual nakedness I've been enduring up now.

BTW — I've pretty much only explored the starting beach and swamp area. I haven't ventured out far out all.

I found Seaman's clothing (blade protection +5, blunt weapon protection + 5) quite early in the game (at that time I did not have enough money too). I'm now at level 11 and I'm still wearing it. You can find it in a chest at Tristan's (the man with the two novices) farm.

Tristan's farm can be reached by turning right when speaking to Jan. (Turning left after having spoken to Jan brought you to the swamp area and the bandit camp).

@Elkston: You actually have to pay 500 to get Worker's Armor, and 1000 to get Hunter's Armor from the Bandits (but they're also quest/storyline restricted - you have to complete certain quests before you can even get access to buying those).

So, no, no free armor as far as I know.

Originally Posted by Omega
I found Seaman's clothing (blade protection +5, blunt weapon protection + 5) quite early in the game (at that time I did not have enough money too). I'm now at level 11 and I'm still wearing it. You can find it in a chest at Tristan's (the man with the two novices) farm.

Tristan's farm can be reached by turning right when speaking to Jan. (Turning left after having spoken to Jan brought you to the swamp area and the bandit camp).

Spoiler – how to actually get it

You have to enter the house from the back and sneak your way to the chest.

Omega -- Thanks. I've already been to his farm, but had missed the chest. Either it was locked, or I got chased out of the house before I could get a good look.

You get free armor if you join the Monastery. All their armors are free. On the other hand, all the bandit armors cost a lot of cash. It's supposed to balance out because the bandits have access to more gold, but in my opinion it never really balances out properly.

Still, money is not an issue if you have pickpocketing/lockpicking.