I think the ethernalquest dates back to '02 or so. I was there even back then, but just a lurker here when it all began. Just searched and found all the ethernalquest binaries on my DVD backup.
I think you're right - Image might have been the one who was in touch with the other group. In fact I have a file (.zip) called emu 0.0.1a which contains files with a folder called ethernalquest/ - The readme.txt begins with -
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