You're telling me I can walk up to someone and barrage them with questions and they'll spout a wiki worth of information at me?

Frankly, why not? If I walked up to a guy on the street and asked him to explain the basics of Christianity to me, then suddenly shifted gears and asked him to tell me what kind of car he drives, then shifted gears and asked him to tell me about the Nixon presidency... I mean he might tell me to fuck off (as some NPCs will in Morrowind) but I honestly find it more likely he'd do his best to explain whatever he knows about those topics. I don't think the Morrowind NPCs are behaving strangely by answering your questions, really you're the strange one for asking them. But it's also not that strange because you were just shipped here from the prison in another country.