I've recently become a Master (or perhaps Wizard, I'm unsure) in house Telvanni, and much to my dismay, I never received my stronghold quest. So I search the web, and discover that Aryon is supposed to give you the quest before you advance to Wizard... can anyone tell me if this is a known bug, and if this means that I have forfeited my stronghold permanently?

Never heard of this before, as far as i know it's not a known bug. Are you sure you spoke to all the right people ? Usually you don't need to talk with the highest in rank of the house you work for. At least not with Hlaalu and Redoran, i wouldn't know about Telvanni though, i've never joined them.

Sounds like a bug. Try talking to the woman in charge of stronghold building - forget her name - in the hermitage at the very bottom of the Telvanni Council House. That may kickstart things. If that doesn't work, post back and there's another slightly more drastic fix to be had.

That worked like a charm, thanks. Anyway, now I've run into another issue. In order to get the third level of the stronghold, I must become a master. Unfortunately, I need to do 'more chores' before Aryon will promote me to the higher ranks. Since I've done every quest, short of Theresa's (who 'accidentally' walked into my blade a few times) when I delivered her skirt, and still can't get promoted. I guess 'more chores' means 'all chores'. :(

Odd, are you sure you're not using some version where the ranks are in a different order?

First of all, it's not Aryon who gives you a quest. You need to go to the Sadrith Mora Hermitage and ask the stronghold there. You can do that once you become a Mouth.
Another thing is strange: Aryon should not promote you to a Wizard (?, two ranks up after a Mouth) without the stronghold.