Oh, and I've confirmed something else.
Whenever you kill all the waves of creatures, leave the area and try to transport somewhere else, you get a constant loading screen. Same goes for loading a game. While the loading screen is being displayed, you can hear your avatar swinging the sword if you press the appropriate button, but no other sounds (no walking, spells, etc.) Alt+F4 is the best way to get out of it.
I've since gone through the Maxos temple and completed a number of other quests... so it's looking like I'll have to avoid this one throughout the game.
