The first quest in the game (not in the final game, but in our beta) should be obtained through additional old man dialogue.
After game initializes and you appear in the old man's hut (after character creation), you should have some options:
Talk to Old Man ("This should have the old man ask you to collect some driftwood from the beach. It should pop-up a new quest notification.")
Search the hut ("This should reveal that the hut has nothing of value except for 7 gold coins on the shelf. You can attempt to steal them [you will be caught as your stealth is too low] where you will receive -5 Virtue and -5 Relations with the Old Man". You should not be able to attempt to steal twice.")
Leave the Hut ("If you have no quests, then this should show you the map with only the hut on it [ie. you can't travel]. If you have the quest, you will know about the beach and it should appear on the map.")
The first quest in the game (not in the final game, but in our beta) should be obtained through additional old man dialogue.
After game initializes and you appear in the old man's hut (after character creation), you should have some options: