Also, LB says the hotdog reference was a clue. Not sure what to make of that, but I figure I should tell people this generously donated information.
Interesting... The lines were:
He pulls out a hot dog in a bun from inside his coat and tosses the bun into the lake, then hands the hot dog to the dunmer.
"Your task, should you choose to accept it, is to find the tallest tree on Dagon Fel and cut it down with this hot dog!"
!Sheogorath proceeds to answer our question about the hot dog by telling us it was a deliberate attempt to communicate something. Also some additional stuff involving hot dogs follows:
"No! It was a deliberate attempt to communicate something to you."
"Yes, just like it's still a hot dog even if it's cold."
"Ahh, have you ever wondered if a hot dog slides up my nose where no one else can see it, if it makes a slurping noise? It does!"
Things to note:
"Hot dog in a bun" probably
isn't a reference to CMOT Dibbler. But the fate of the bun seems like it
might be important. He's discarded the wrapper containing the hot dog, but the sausage itself is the important thing. I could see it as supposed to mean that Michael doesn't need his body, and that he can do what he needs to in his current state.
Chopping down a tree with a hot dog is of course a reference to Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I don't think saying "Ni" to !Sheogorath will do anything useful, though.
The other two quotes I mention regarding the hot dog seem vaguely possible to have meaning as well, possibly !Sheo trying to reinforce his point. "Still a hot dog even when cold" seems applicable here - it could be read as saying Michael is still a player even without his game body. Similarly, he says the hot dog still has some effect on the world, even if it's unobservable. So, if the hot dog indeed represents Michael, it reinforces the notion that Michael is still capable of doing important things in his current state. Perhaps, in fact, we shouldn't
want to return him to life - the abstraction of Morrowind is distracting us from the
real task, whatever that is.
Of course, that's all just conjecture. I would be interested in hearing other players' thoughts on the matter.