Project 1999 - my first pvp experience

level 6 ranger here.. i just started on the server recently so i dont have the best of gear, but let me tell you a little story.

being a half-elf ranger born in Qeynos, i have not had many interactions with other players. sure there are a bunch of barbarians running around, but they are kinda freakish and rarely like to interact with others. luckily i am ok with hanging out solo, so this hasnt managed to get me down too much. unfortunately, Qeynos is not a smithy-friendly town, and no vendors seem to have sharpening stones for sale. by level 4 i began to feel the strain of my starter sword being inadequate, so when i looted a rusty short sword from a skeleton, i began to deliberate my options.
from what i could determine from the wiki, the closest vendor who sells sharpening stones is all the way in Halas, on the other side of the gnoll dungeon and through the icy tundra. this might seem like too far of a trip to many, but rangers know no fear, so i set off on my quest.
upon arriving at the black burrow, i tracked no gnolls guarding the entrance, so i used the opportunity to stealthily slip by their defenses. inside of the gnoll base had a similar barrenness, aside from a few gnoll corpses on the top level. this was ideal for me, as i was only going into the black burrow to make my way to Halas, i wasnt looking for a fight.
upon arriving in Everfrost Peaks, i ran into a ranger of full elven heritage, and he graced me with the spirit of the wolf. i swiftly navigated the labyrinth that is Everfrost, and upon arriving in Halas was able to use my meager blacksmithing skill in order to craft a tarnished short sword. (wow was this thing fast!) time to head back to the hills of qeynos to test out my sword skills on unsuspecting gnolls.
when i arrived in the black burrow, i finally saw the culprits of the gnoll slaughter, two barbarian females laying waste to many gnolls.
using my waning spirit of wolf, i managed to evade the barbarians, and finally ended up back in qeynos hills.
after heading to the glade in order to train myself in the ability to kick my foes, i headed back to the black burrow entrance to see if i couldnt train my new martial skills on some gnoll guards.
here is where i had my first experience with Flowers of Happiness.

upon arriving at blackburrow, i saw some fellow players slaying gnolls together, so i cautiously approached them in order to offer my services. their party consisted of a bard, a paladin, and a wizard; all of which were around my level. as soon as the bard saw me, i guess she told her friends, because they all ran towards me. preparing my salutations to this group of adventurers, i was taken by surprise when they all began to hit me with their weapons.
realizing that this was quickly becoming less than a friendly hazing, i began to run from my aggressors, only to notice that my spirit of the wolf had worn off. having been a participant in the foot race from Freeport to Qeynos just days earlier, i knew what i must do to avoid being these adventurers' next victim. by running at an angle and in random vectors, i finally managed to make it to the nearby guard shack with nearly a third of the way from death.
as soon as i arrived at the guard shack, i turned around to see that the group of adventurers had followed me here and were sitting near me.
i figured that this meant that they did not want to contest mobs, so i began to head back down the path to qeynos, only to be followed and attacked again. i managed to make it back to the guard shack, where i then pleaded with these bandits to let me pass, but after at least a game day, they were still keeping me company.

asking them why they had attacked me, the only legible answer that i could determine from them was simply "pvp".