Hey FoodThing, welcome to Planeshift.

1. Did you die? Then you are in the death realm, which is supposed to be dark. Ask a fellow dead soul to lead you out. If you really can't see anything in the death realm, i think many people had this issue, try to search for "fullbright". To your "orientation problem": there are no maps ingame, this is intentionally. The easiest way to get started is to ask another player "hey, I am new to the city, can you tell me where ...." (I recommend the sewers in hydlaa, you can start there by hunting rats)
2. The NPC talking system has lately been changed
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=25184.0, and most of them don't respond at all, until everything is fixed. The smith Harnquist in Hydlaa is fixed, he talks to you, when you say his name at the beginning or the end of your sentence.
Don't give up, the learning curve is steep, but it's worth it!
Greetings,
pebbles