All that winking you did made me suspicious, but it's amazing how you managed to get 15 nobles in less than a week or two. Explain that, did all of sudden people want to say. "Hey, let's all go to this one duchy realm instead of going to the almighty Sirion or Perdan!" Nobody cares about your "Fontan secret" I just want to know how 55 nobles don't cash starve lords...
I'd guess many of them are refugees from the south. When a realm the size of Ibladesh self-destructs many players lose interest in the rebuilding, something we experienced in Fontan when the war with Sirion ended. There's also been some immigration from Sirion which now lacks any obvious enemy.
If Fontan's last rise to prominence taught us anything it's that the scent of a good war encourages immigration, whilst the boisterous nature of a democracy leads to a high rate of retention. That's how at one time we had 160+ nobles.
As to the finances of those nobles, I assume some of them are relying on family gold but there's hardly any crime in that. I have characters in the Colonies who have to do much the same at times.
