» Sat Dec 25, 2010 7:48 am
I'll answer the last question first, the player is Dovahkiin, which is draconic for Dragonborn, the way it's been used, it also sounds like it might serve as the title you're character will be referred to in canon, kind of like how Morrowind had the Nerevarine and Oblivion had the Champion of Cyrodiil.
As to the other questions, I'm not entirely be sure. I understand that the souls of dragons and the proper words are both needed to learn shouts, but how the two things relate to each other exactly. My guess is that the dragon soul gives you the power you need to learn shouts, but finding the proper words is still necessary to actually learn to use them.
We haven't been told when we can get the first companion, in Fallout 3, you couldn't get a proper companion until you left the vault, maybe Skyrim will also be like that, though maybe Bethesda will include someone who can be you're companion in the beginning to give you an idea of what companions are like, maybe it will be Esbern, but I'm just guessing, since I simply don't know.
Ah, looks like someone already answered the questions before me, I guess I should check to see if that happened before submiting a post.