Returning after a long stint away (October) and curious about leves.

My character that I had prior to my return has 99 of them racked up. I assume this is the max.

Now a couple of questions.
  1. My new character seems to only ever rack up 12, even if I've not done any. Why is that?
  2. What is the timer to gain more and how many do you gain?
  3. How many can be done in a day?
  4. Even if you have 99 of them racked up, is there still a cap on how many you can do?
  5. Are crafting & battle leves drawing from the same # or are they their own entity?

Thanks for any information received.