The thing is the Ala Mhigan refugees don't have much of a choice... they don't have a home anymore. They're desperate for anywhere that will take them, and to be arbitrarily told no and given no explanation as to why or how they can become worthy is kicking them while they're down. Not that the Elementals care, since tolerating mortals being there at all is a concession on their part.

But, uhh... you kind of made my point for me. To sum it up man is not the master of his own fate in the Twelveswood, and thus it is not really a nice place to live despite all the greenery.

Well, enough digression. I stand by my original deduction on the Griffin's identity, which basically boils down to "Probably Ilberd, plausibly Gaius but unlikely, otherwise someone new."