Booted game to check; I think I understand your confusion.
Both start with skills on lvl 2. That means 3 skillpoints are given there, but since it's just 1 upgrade the 'points in lore' will display 1 or 2 lower than for the player, if he/she just put points into lvl 1. Did that cause the confusion?
And yes, they start out talentless, but they can acquire them by levelups.
