Jumped into the ascendent portal towards the light (Toland). The light flew off without any dialogue and continued along the path all the way to the bottom. The bounty remained incomplete. So, I followed, got to the bottom without any bounty completion, then figured I would die and see if him resetting to the beginning would fix the issue. Jumped into it again and he took off again without a word. I tried jumping in multiple times going more slowly or quickly to see if anything would change. I'm out on tincture now and the bounty is still incomplete so I'm giving up for the time being.