ToME: the Tales of Maj'Eyal

yesterday i entered daikara1 and there was an escort quest. i saved my game and exited. today when i loaded my game the paperdolls at the top of the screen are gone, and i am not able to interact with the escort(can't ask him where the portal is or tell him to wait)

I was getting the same in 1.2.1 and 1.2.2.