Not terribly articulate, loremaster, [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] but apart from that I think you're slightly off... Sauron was, in the War of the Ring, in a rather weakened state. His many deaths had drained him, and he had crystallised a lot of his power into the Ring. He was largely just an intellect -- a huge, psionically-able intellect -- with only a vague physical form. The flame, the Eye of Barad-dur, seems to have been his favourite physical manifestation, although it is probably, I think, that some weakish physical humanoid form was in his power to attain. It was really just the power of his thought that made him terrible, then. Once he had attained his Ring again, his gain in power would be huge, not only would the already considerable force of his intellect increase but his physical manifestation would become hugely more powerful.
It was on the drained Sauron only, not simply any Maia, that this effect would have taken place. The Ring gave him his own power back.
I think it was probably a Ringwraith that visited the Dwarves in Erebor. Quite possibly from Dol Guldor, as it was closer -- there were three there, so it could have been either one of them. It would not have taken that long to ride up, for they had fast horses at their disposal. That he supposedly used Sauron's name may either have been a discrepancy in the retelling by Gloin, or else perhaps simply to be clear and not over-flattering of his Lord when talking to the Dwarves. Sauron, I am sure, would have given free reign to the Nazgul to decide on these things for themselves -- they were his most trusted servants and agents, he knew they were devoted to him, they were not the scum that made up his rank-and-file.
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