Halflings get an xp bonus, so it's a great choice! Dwarf might not be bad either, as they have a higher str value so you can carry more...something that is important for people just starting as you'll want to carry every item you can to sell in order to save up for lowbie gear.
At first you can make patchwork leather armor from animal pelts, and fill in other slots with small bronze as you can find/afford it. If you start in rivervale you can zone into kithicor and /shout to see if any high level is around that will kill the undead that drop a nice nodrop mace.
Why do you want to go to qeynos? If you're in rivervale i'd highly recommend getting a couple levels in your newb area, and then running to EC. You might get a couple of handouts in the form of equipment/buffs to help you level, and there are usually low level orc groups around to join.
check out this page:
http://wiki.project1999.org/index.php/Cleric