LadyWYT

The warm climate zone has the Mediterranean cypress that you're talking about, but the biomes you'll get will vary. If you want a world that overall feels more Mediterranean, you might consider using this mod: https://mods.vintagestory.at/floralzonesmediterraneanregion
There's also this mod too, though it focuses on plants with a more global distribution than regional: https://mods.vintagestory.at/floralzonescosmopolitanregion

It might be an oversight. If I'm understanding you correctly, it sounds like you're playing on a Macbook rather than a desktop, left the game at the "You Died" screen, and closed the laptop instead of exiting the game and then closing the laptop. As far as I'm aware, the game does not pause on the death screen--only on the escape menu or the handbook, assuming you have it set to pause while the handbook is open.
Now why the game kept running after you closed the laptop, I do not know. I play on a desktop(Windows), and I'm not terribly familiar with how Macs operate. If the computer went to sleep though, it seems that most open programs should have been shut down automatically. You might check the settings to make sure it didn't hibernate instead of sleep; I don't know if that's a thing Macs can do, but the difference between the modes is that hibernate essentially lets you return to whatever you were doing upon waking the computer. Sleep mode simply saves power, but you'll have to reopen the programs that you wish to use.
In any case, I would make sure that you at least exit to the title screen next time, before closing your computer. I'm guessing that if it's not intended behavior, it'll be fixed sooner or later, but it's better to make sure that you're at a safe stopping point with your programs before closing the computer, in order to avoid potential issues.

You need to use fire clay to make one; otherwise, you make it the same as any other clay item, except without needing to fire it before using. Just plop down some fireclay and select the correct recipe.
Do note that you will need around a stack and a half of fireclay to make a clay oven. You can find deposits of fireclay in bauxite biomes, or sometimes under black coal/anthracite seams, and occasionally scavenge it from cracked vessels as well. However, it's much easier to calcinate flint, grind it into powder, and then add the flint powder to red or blue clay to create fire clay.

You should be able to just download the game on the new computer by visiting the Client Area at the top of the page. If you have worlds that you want to continue playing or don't want to download mods all over again, you'll need to transfer those files manually. In the case of transferring worlds, bear in mind that the map data is stored in a separate file from the world save itself, though I'm not exactly sure where. In any case, if you miss transferring the map data, you'll still have your waypoints, but will need to explore that portion of the map again to see the actual lay of the land.

Welcome to the forums(and the game)!
You should be able to make a forge from any cobblestone--granite is just one option.
 
Finding new rocks is really just a matter of exploring the world. If you happen to find a ruined translocator(this is only an option if lore content is enabled), you can repair it and teleport a few thousand blocks away in an instant, which makes it easier to find new rock types. Igneous rocks like granite, andesite, and peridotite are also found on the bottom rock layers, so it doesn't hurt to dig down or explore some caves to see what's available. If you dig near the mantle, basalt isn't an uncommon find either, and I've also heard this is where phyllite often spawns though I've never found it myself.

Welcome to the forums!
By default, items are placed on the ground with shift + right-click, while tools are placed with ctrl + shift + right-click, assuming there is a wall to support them.
My guess is that you're probably hitting the wrong combination after rebinding the keys, but you might also try the solution that the OP in this thread figured out: 
 

Currently, no, it's not possible to tame raccoons in the vanilla game. You could try this mod, which adds that kind of option, but I'm not sure how well it works(make sure you have the PetAI mod to go with it, as that is a requirement): https://mods.vintagestory.at/raccoontaming

Welcome to the forums!
I'm assuming you're playing on Windows, but are you using any particular kind of gaming mouse, keyboard, or controller that could be causing interference? Any recent key rebinding?
In any case, the default combination to place tools on the ground against a wall(there must be enough wall to support the tool or it won't work) is ctrl + shift + right-click. By default, the ctrl key is what you press and hold in order to sprint, so I'm guessing what happened is that you rebound sprint to a button on a gaming mouse in order to make the action easier to use.

For now it's normal. The ice will eventually melt off completely in chunks that you frequently visit, since the chunks will be loaded long enough for the ice to melt thoroughly. But otherwise, lake ice is in kind of a goofy spot right now due to how slowly it melts, so it's not unusual to have random bits of ice in the summertime in areas that you're not frequently visiting.

This is part of the Better Ruins mod, and not vanilla lore. I'm not exactly sure what all it entails, but it is a structure separate from vanilla story locations.
 

You can give yourself the requisite map items from the creative inventory in order to just mark the location, I think. However, you can also use /tpstoryloc with the appropriate location moniker in order to teleport right to it. The monikers are as follows, I believe:
 

Welcome to the forums! 
You will need a quern, yes, but a copper chisel can be used to craft the quern, and a copper chisel can be forged on a copper anvil with a copper hammer. The forge only requires cobblestone to craft. You don't actually need fireclay until you get to iron working, steel refining, glass smelting, and baking things other than charred bread.
Once you have a quern, you simply use it to grind calcined flint chunks into powdered calcined flint. That powder can then be mixed with red clay or blue clay to make fire clay(one unit of powder will make eight units of fire clay). To get calcined flint chunks, you will have to cook regular flint at a very high temperature in a firepit.

Welcome to the forums! Unfortunately, I'm not sure what to do here, aside from perhaps submit a bug report to the Github bug tracker. It's probably unintended behavior, as it's not exactly common to be teleporting like that.
However, before submitting a bug report on it, I would recommend disabling your mods and testing on a vanilla world, if you can. Mods are a likely suspect when it comes to strange game behavior, even if the mod appears to be unrelated to the problem at hand. Likewise, if mods were involved, the first thing you're going to get asked when submitting the bug report is whether or not the issue still occurred without the mods enabled.
As for getting your stuff back...you'll probably want to pop into creative mode briefly and spawn in the missing elk/other stuff.

Honestly, have to agree with @Professor Dragon here, in that there are just too many variables to account for. As a general rule, Vintage Story is optimized very well, and the vanilla game should run excellent on the average machine. Sometimes there's a bug or two that throws a wrench in the works, but those are usually sorted out fairly fast.
For vanilla specifically, it's going to depend on player hardware. Weaker hardware will want to turn down graphics, which usually equates to lowering render distance, lowering particle counts, lowering shadow quality, etc. It's also a good idea to keep background tasks to a minimum while playing, as they can also interfere with game performance(especially on weaker hardware).
Having lots of signs, machine parts, a ridiculous amount of entities crammed into a small location, lots of intricate chiseling, etc, can all possibly impact performance, but I would say that's really only a concern for weaker hardware, and like...a TON of that stuff packed into one's base. I would also say that's a general rule for most games, not just Minecraft or Vintage Story. The more you have going on in a single space, the more the system is going to need to work to account for it all.
It's also worth keeping in mind that for multiplayer specifically, spotty internet connection can easily cause issues while playing, although connection issues typically come with a warning box appearing in the upper right hand corner. Likewise, the bigger the server is, the beefier it will need to be in order to handle a large map with lots of players.
Honestly...it sounds like those players might just have lower-end PCs, and/or be running other programs in the background that may impact their performance specifically. Having browser tabs open, playing music, or recording game footage can all be fairly demanding on system resources. However, it's also possible that they're trying to play the game at higher settings than what their hardware can handle, and thus are encountering problems as a result. If it is a hardware problem though, I'm not sure there's much that can be done, outside of tinkering with graphics to find something more workable or upgrading hardware(if possible). While it may not be fun to do that, it's also not really fair to force other players to avoid chiseling or otherwise reasonably enjoying the game just because the hardware of other players can't handle it.
That being said...despite it being a vanilla server, it's worth checking to see if the players having problems are using client-side mods. If they are, it's entirely possible that there's a mod causing issues(especially if the mod is out of date and not otherwise known to work correctly on the latest game version), in which case they should try disabling their mods to see if performance improves.
If you've got logs available, you could also try posting them here on the forums to see if someone else can figure them out. If it's an actual crash report though, you can post that to the forums too, but that's much better submitted to the Github bug tracker for the devs to see.

If the armor durability is 0, it will no longer provide protection from incoming attacks. However, that durability is separate from the clothing durability that provides the bonus to warmth. For some reason, the clothing durability stat doesn't seem to tick down at all on bear armor, which I'm guessing is either a bug or an oversight. In any case, that's what's going on here--the armor is still keeping you protected from the elements, but not from attacks.

The first step is to disable your mods and ensure vanilla works properly. If it doesn't, you'll need to backup your saves in a separate folder and reinstall the game, then check again to make sure vanilla is working properly.
Once you've verified vanilla works as it should, then you can start adding mods back in one by one, testing as you go. Though tedious, it's the easiest way to figure out exactly which mod is causing the problem, if you've otherwise no clue to the culprit.
The only other thing I can think of to check is to make sure that installed mods are either up to date for the recent game version, or are otherwise known to be working correctly on the recent game version. Likewise, check for mods that are marked as a developer version--these mods often have issues(but not always) since they are unstable releases.

Welcome to the forums! Finding elk in the wild is possible, as I've done it a few times, but they aren't a creature I would really consider a common find. The best place to start searching is the Cool climate zone, given they prefer taiga as habitat. For a temperate start location though, you'll be wanting to search high altitude plateaus, as these are the only places that are cool enough to their liking. It's also better to stick to open grasslands, shrubland, or sparse forest, as I don't believe they will spawn in deserts or dense forests(in this case though, if they do spawn, they'll be difficult to spot).
Basically, if the climate is cool enough to qualify as a taiga, and it's a grassy area or sparse forest, it's a prime elk hunting location. However, it's easier to find a climate they could spawn in, than it is to find the actual elk themselves. Also keep in mind that you need a baby elk specifically to capture and raise in order to tame your mount, and since I don't think it's possible to breed deer like you can with livestock(I could be wrong), that means you'll be relying on a baby elk spawn specifically.
Honestly, unless you're playing Homo Sapiens or just incredibly intent on taming your own elk, it's much less hassle to just fork over some gears to your friendly local treasure hunter for a trusty mount instead. If you do try to tame your own, the best strategy once you've found them, is probably to try breeding them first(I'm pretty sure this doesn't work, but just in case!), or otherwise barbecue them and wait for them to respawn(rinse and repeat if there are no baby elk when they respawn).

I wouldn't be surprised if the feature were added someday, but I've not seen anything to suggest it's a feature that will get added anytime soon. Until then, hammer/chisel, or mods are the way to go. There seem to be a handful that exist, like this one: https://mods.vintagestory.at/show/mod/28046
I will note though, the mods that do exist are for older game versions, so they may or may not work properly. 

Should this ever happen again, it's worth noting that you can set yourself to creative mode(/gm 2) or spectator mode(/gm 3) and fly yourself out of the situation. /gm 1 will set you back to survival.
For console commands in general:
Server commands: https://wiki.vintagestory.at/List_of_server_commands
World Configuration: https://wiki.vintagestory.at/Special:MyLanguage/World_Configuration

It's definitely a mod issue. Looking at the logs might yield some useful information on which one could be the culprit, but the first step is to disable them and test on a vanilla world to see if the issue persists. Hopefully it doesn't, but I'm guessing it might, since I had similar issues once when messing with mods and had to reinstall the game entirely in order to fix it.
Once you've confirmed vanilla to be working as intended, then you can add mods back in one by one, testing as you go until you encounter the issue again. That should help you pinpoint which mod is causing the problem. The other to check when it comes to mods, is making sure they're all up-to-date for the current game version, or in the case of older mods, known to be working properly on the current game version. 
Given that it's wintertime, you might check to see if you have any mods that change the frost overlay, but that doesn't rule out a seemingly unrelated mod causing weird texture issues.

Welcome to the forums!
I'm guessing you messed with the world generation settings in order to get this. I wouldn't trash the world, but I would start over on a new save file, with something closer to standard world generation, as that will make it easier to learn gameplay basics(you'll have an easier time actually finding resources you need to progress). Once you've got more of the basics down, then then you could come back to this world for a more challenging playthrough.
That's not to say you can't play this one as your first world, but...an island that small is going to be incredibly restricting, and if the only land out there is tiny islands like this, it's going to be much more difficult to secure critical progression resources. Even more so if you don't even have cattails, as those are needed to make rope, which is used for the raft(the first water vehicle). You can use vines to make rope as well, but I'm guessing there likely aren't enough vines for that here(and vines don't regrow like cattails).

Welcome to the forums! The first thing I would check is inventory space--if you didn't have the space to hold it, it most likely got dropped to the floor. You might try clearing some inventory space and checking around his home to make sure that it didn't get dropped.
If you still can't find it, it's possible that it might be a bug, in which case you should report it over on the Github bug tracker. Do note that if you are using mods, you will want to disable them and try to replicate the bug in vanilla(you can use console commands and admin blade to speedrun chapter 2, no need to complete chapter 1 first). If the bug can't be replicated in vanilla, then it's likely an issue that's being caused by a mod.
The item itself doesn't appear to be available in creative, which is probably an oversight and worth a report. The good news is that you can spawn the rickety translocator via creative, so while you may not be able to craft it for that world, you can still access the tech itself(can also wait until you've made all the craftable parts before deleting them and spawning in the translocator).

I don't recall. It was called "Compatibility Patch" or something to that effect. I'm not even sure it's on the database anymore, to be honest. If it is, I don't recommend using it, since it doesn't actually fix the issues that Wildcraft has on the current game version. Hence why I say it makes things "work"; that is, the code might compile and it might not spit out so many errors to the server console, but you'll still encounter issues like animals not eating from troughs or getting attracted by trap bait.
I would either wait for Wildcraft to receive a proper update, or start a new world. You could also try to continue as-is, and try to find a workaround via some use of creative mode or something. 

This would be my vote, given the trader rework that is coming and whatnot. However, this also depends partly on how attached you are to the structures in your current world. I won't say it's easy to let go of a world you have so much history in, however, I would only worry about copying over structures if they are things you just can't live without. Otherwise, a new world offers a fresh slate to start anew, with plenty of space and resources to make even more memories, and screenshots can help preserve the memory of the old.

Welcome to the forums!
Smelting doesn't require a room; you just need to make sure that nothing can put out the fire under the crucible. And as @Vexxvididu already noted, the fuel you're using needs to burn hot enough, for long enough, in order to smelt the ore. It is possible to "coast" on coals, but if the temperature of the ore drops you'll lose your smelt progress and have to start over. Another thing to keep in mind that in regards to alloys, you need the proper ratio of ores in order to achieve a smeltable product; if there's no viable output the ore won't smelt. Also, the more ore you try to smelt at once, the longer it will take to smelt, so the ore can be hot enough to start smelting but you may not see any progress on the meter for several seconds, as it takes a fair amount of time to smelt large quantities of ore.
In any case, charcoal is sufficient for smelting copper and zinc, so the first things to check are ore quantity and ore ratio. Given that you said the meter still reads as "cold" despite the fire burning at maximum charcoal temperature, I would suspect that you have the wrong ratio for the alloy you're attempting to smelt(brass).