This isn't exactly a bug, but it definitely needs to be addressed. I'll explain the situation first, then post my log of it. I had asked Karjon about the quest and been given the key needed to access the trapdoor. Now, knowing this is a dangerous quest, it occurred to me that I should hand my more valuable stuff off to my companion. I removed my rucksack, but, instead of giving him the rucksack, I accidentally gave him the key instead. He offered it back to me, but the key then disintegrated. As you can imagine, this caused my to utter some choice words.

Once I thought about it for a minute, I thought I should simply be able to abandon the quest, then pick it back up again. Might take a day or two to reset, but it shouldn't be that long, right? When I asked Karjon about quitting, he told me that I wouldn't "be able to seek Murrula's blessing again for some time." Now "some time" is a very subjective measure. Is that a RL day? A couple days? Couldn't be more than a week, right? Well, it turns out "some time" is three RL months, which they don't inform you of until AFTER you have abandoned the quest. Now maybe I should have tried asking Karjon about a key or a few more things before abandoning, but it didn't occur to me that it would be THREE MONTHS before I could get the quest again.

At the very least, the warning sequence needs to be changed so that you're warned that you'll have to wait three months before you confirm quitting the quest, not after you've already done it.

Here is my log of the incident, which shows that the messaging was after I confirmed that I wanted to quit, not before.

>rem ruck
You take an oilcloth rucksack off your back.
>
>give virr
You offer your red steel key to Virr, who has 30 seconds to accept the offer. Type CANCEL to prematurely cancel the offer.
>
Virr has accepted your offer and is now holding a tiny red steel key.

At this point, Virr offered the key back to me and it disintegrated, although I got no messaging about it on my end.

From his log:
J>accept
You accept Leridil's offer and are now holding a tiny red steel key.
J>give leri
A tiny red steel key suddenly disintegrates into a fine red mist.

Now back to my log:
>
Virr mutters to himself.
>
>ask karj about Murrula's Flames
Karjon says, "You must travel this journey alone, Leridil. Let the book guide you. I can do no more than offer you the key."
>
>ask karj about quitting
Karjon looks surprised. "Are you sure you want to abandon your quest, Leridil? The undead will likely lose interest in you, but you won't be able to seek Murrula's blessing again for some time. Ask me again if you are sure."
>ask karj about Murrula's Flames
Karjon says, "You must travel this journey alone, Leridil. Let the book guide you. I can do no more than offer you the key."
>ask karj about quitting
Karjon nods gruffly. "Very well." He grasps the wooden phoenix amulet hanging from his neck with a massive olive fist and closes his eyes in brief prayer.

A dark shadow passes over you, and you sense the warmth of Murrula's Flames depart. Somehow, a sense of comfort spreads over you and you know that you will no longer be stalked by the Undead scourge.
[You will need to wait 3 real months from the time you began the quest to start it again.]
>ask karj about Murrula's Flames
Karjon says, "You must wait awhile longer before you can embark on your journey again. I cannot help you until then."

END OF LOG

For those who are curious, a two GameHosts looked into resetting the timer for me, but it was above their paygrade. They put in a referral to a GM, and I'm waiting to hear from them about the issue.