Another mudwalker left Dallor's at about the same time, nearly broke except for the four gator hides he had finally gained enough wealth to acquire. So koala teeth and dactyl hides have been the big winners for me, with a combined total of 85 oculars. With a payoff in the neighborhood of 7 oculars for one combat, these are good candidates for fast money. Miscellaneous creature parts account for 45 oculars. My advice to the eager young ruk hoping to make a killing is to use your maps and use your A order to do just that - kill.
Every battle has some ratio of oculars gained to health lost.
Avoid fights that have no reward. There's no point losing 20 health battling a smite if you already have a smite pike. Pass lotus plants when you can - they're free money, after all. I'd like to reemphasize the usefulness of the A order. 16 points spent practicing your weapon is less effective than 6 points spent getting into a fight.