Max level for characters is 60th, now 65th. NPCs can be any level. I think the highest at the moment is 75th. Maybe you haven't played much but NPC's in EQ follow very few of the rules that PCs have to.
Does anybody know where this guy is. I know the guard at the entrance to the unfinished fort says it's for the general. But I have yet to see him there or anywhere else in FV.