1. Can I get the ability to use dragon shouts before triggering the random dragon attacks? I am not ready for the dragon attacks to start.

2. I was looking through unique items on the wiki and most seem to be connected to the Thieves Guild (the guild I am least excited about) Things like a model ship and a bust of the Gray Fox. Do you get to keep these items for your house when you are done? Besides weapons/armor/staves are there a lot of cool unique misc. items you can keep like these?

3. Chillrend actually seems like an artifact that can deal some major damage when smithed. Why do all of the artifacts I read about seem worthless in this game compared to the Chillrend/Umbra/Goldbrands of Oblivion. Do any of the artifact weapons even hold up to Chillrend in this game?

4. Random Question- Bout to join the Dark Brotherhood with my evil character, is Cicero as awesome as I've heard?

1. No, to use any shouts, you have to have dragon souls to unlock them. If you want to avoid random dragon encounters, don't start the quest "A Blade in the Dark". The static dragons (ones that just chill on mountains, usually right by Word Walls) may still be there to fight, if you want to try that.

2. You don't keep them for your house, they're kept at the Thieves Guild headquarters, on display.

3. With the DLC, Chillrend is no longer "the best". It depends on the effects you want, though. Most weapons can be smithed to be just as powerful as Chillrend, it just takes some fiddling.

4. Awesome in what way? He's an interesting character. Got kind of a sniveling demeanor that bothered me sometimes. I've never used him as a companion.

Edit: clarified first answer