Quote Originally Posted by Shad0w
A bit of an old topic but I just wanted to comment on the first question.

As far as I recall, if you see all seven (I think it's 7) of Shadow's dreams, then he does survive Kefka's tower and if you don't, I think he dies. Baram was Shadow's partner when he was known as Clyde and was a Train robber.
It's a rumor, a false one. Shadow only has 5 dreams, which can be proven easily by hacking the game. His ending never changes, no matter what you do in the game (excluding, of course, the events on the Floating Continent).