No. There is no way to circumvent the noble limit or character limit, either for your account or on an island.
(I can't answer the other offhand, sorry 
)
Looks like I have myself a permy-advy then xD Not that I mind! It does raise an interesting scenario in pre-emptiveness, however. Should my noble die or otherwise leave the island, I would be able to immediately pop up a noble on that continent with high swordfighting skills and prestige, which is kind of nice. Thanks for the reply
