Tribute and Leadership points???Follow

I am a relative EQ newbie after 6yrs Uo.
I have 8 chars all 18 to 25 and I still cannot make up my mind as I like them all and would not mind a few more still.

I gained leadership of a very good paludral Caverns group and managed 2 LS points on first attempt.

My questions are : what good are these points?
: which is the best skill to put points (I would tend towards regeneration of HPs)
: how long does this skill last?(is it permanent if I am leader?)
: do the skills stack and carry on over to the char or do they only apply when i am leader of a group?

Ditto the Tribute thing..I dumped a load of rubbish onto my tribute manager and gained 60 pts but i have no idea of what to do with them.

Is there a site which discusses these areas?

Thx in advance