What capital city is best to start off at as a Fyros person?
It depends mostly on crafting. If you like to craft, it would be best to start off in your racial capital (Pyr for Fyros) for ease of access to crafting plans. Early on, it will be difficult to switch to a new racial pattern, but that becomes easier over time.
Otherwise, Lakes is a good place to level. There is the huge advantage of having water everywhere, which helps you run from aggro, but like you mentioned, there are a lot of things that want to eat you. Jungle may perhaps be one of the easier lands for a player completely new to the game. Until you're comfortable with sneaking around safely between groups of aggressive creatures, avoid the Forest.
Can someone help me get there?
BallisticMystix holds a weekly trek on Tuesday evenings, east coast US time. It sounds like you're familiar with this one.
Phaedreas Tears is also running a weekly trek, though I haven't seen the advertisements or forums posts enough to remember the details. Search the forums for announcements or ask about the PT treks.
If not, how difficult would the journey be on foot for someone with my levels?
Going from Lakes to Desert is possible, if you go through the portal in Bounty Beaches, west through an area of the Prime Roots into the Jungle, and then from there to the Desert. You absolutely CAN sneak the whole way through, if you are patient enough ... even through Bounty Beaches, which is renowned for its walls of aggro.
You cannot sneak through Heretic's Hovel in the Forest. You -might- be able to use an Invulnerability aura, Melee Protection Aura, and Speeding Up in various combinations to run through bottlenecks filled with aggro, if you know where the pools of water are. You may not have those abilities, or may not have them at sufficient levels to make that a successful journey, however.
If you are truly new to the game, this will seem a very difficult challenge. You'll see a lot of nice things (especially the Prime Roots), and learn how much patience you have =)
Is there a data base or something to show me what certain things I can craft with certain plans look like?
BallisticMystix have a dressing room on their website: http://ballisticmystix.net/?p=dressingRoom
Is it worth investing over 50 crafting skill points just to learn how to craft light Matis style pants? ( I feel I already know the answer to that one)
My personal opinion is that it is not worth it. Right now. But I also don't like the Matis styles, so that could influence my opinion.
If it is important to you, then yes it's worth it. It will take points from at least 8 crafting levels, to reach q10 Matis LA crafting with the LA Pants pattern. Again, with patience, it's not that big of an obstacle to overcome.
Ultimately, don't let anyone tell you that it's wrong for you to do. Only you can make that decision. It may not be the most efficient option if you want to maximize experience and leveling, but not everyone plays the game for maximum efficiency.
Also, she said that the Kami faction are a rather friendly community and that the Karavan seem nice at first, but once you join, you're on your own most of the time. Is this true in your experience and opinion?
You'll get all sorts of answers on this one =)
I am Kami, so I should be expected to say that we are the best, blah blah. But in reality, it boils down to those you call friends. For now, I would strongly encourage you to stay neutral, even if being Fyros gives you a leg up on becoming Kami -- being Matis gave me an edge on becoming Karavan, but I chose Kami because of my friends. Read through posts in the forums to see how the various people respond, to get an idea of what many of the people are like, which can also give you an idea of the different factions.
If you find a guild you like, join the faction they have aligned with. But don't rush into it, in case you want to leave that guild for another. It's not impossible to change, it just requires patience. It's easier to wait than to rush into a decision and then have to work to undo the changes.
Friendships are FAR more important than faction, or politics, or equipment, or money, or anything else in the game. Find other people who value friendships above those things, and avoid the ones who are willing to sacrifice friendships to gain advantages in-game.