Yep, PK is an integral part of CF. But it is in my opinion what makes the mud so great.

Firstly, read the "newbie 1", "newbie 2", "newbie 3" helpfiles. A lot of good tips to keeping you alive in there.

Secondly, Some personal tips: Expect to die often... at first! It will actually make you a better player.

So I'm a not-so-veteran player, but have been around the block a couple times, and have found two extreme types of players. Know these.
1) The newb (like yourself!) who might just attack anyone on sight without having a reason, full loot your corpse, bring three of his buddies along to help, and taunt you afterwards. This is the guy to avoid, as another newbie. But the good news is, you'll see him coming, and in general, this guy doesn't last for very long. Or learns to become the next type... So no biggie.
Then,
2) The seasoned veteran. He'll probably kill you too. You won't see him coming, and he'll do unspeakable things to you in one or two rounds leaving you swearing he must have a cheat code or something to do something like that to you before you can even type "flee". But. This guy will probably deliver some key RP back afterwards, maybe IC hints how to avoid him, and probably will leave you with your belongings (why would he want your noob gear?!) and not attack you again for the lack of fun your futile resistance provided. In an ideal world, we'd all be more like some of these guys. They get Immortal interaction, quest skills, tattos, leadership positions, and so on. Enjoy these deaths and learn from them.

Then all sorts of in betweens. But good RP begets good RP, and if you stick to YOUR role, you'll find more positive interactions, deaths less painful, and folks wanting to help you out. Trust me. I'm just learning this.

Most people here on CF I've found want to make Thera a better place vis a vis PK interactions... I mean, think of the types of people that would play an RP/PK based mud such as CF in an age where graphic shoot em up games are sooo good.

So enjoy, you really will be rewarded with solid RP based PK, even if the occasional jerk might rear his ugly head!