Well, that's strange, dollkey. Is your sim able to interact with the elder? I wonder if it could be some kind of game glitch that rights itself when you exit the game. At one point my whole game went black - all I could see was the green plumbbob and the flares from torches. No idea what caused it, but I managed to save the game by quitting that quest and re-starting it.
When I did the Fur challenge, my sim waited around a long time at the judgement area and, as you said, nothing happened. I had my character come back the next morning and the fight finally took place.