I am honestly really surprised that no one has mentioned the obvious answer.
Clearly this is the work of Sheogorath.
What evidence do I have?
You can clearly see how it drives some players to madness and incites riots in this thread.
If that is not the work of the mad god, I don't know what is.
I'll just leave this tray of cheese and cabbage for everyone to snack on while they read.
