Warden Davrin was assigned by First Warden Jowin Glastrum to serve as security detail for the griffon trainers, Lancit and Remi, and the new generation of griffons in the High Anderfels.^[2] During his post there, he noticed a male griffon who was courageous and was prone to acts of valor. Davrin suggested they name him Assan, a Dalish term that roughly translates to "arrow." The griffon trainers agreed the name suited him and over time, Davrin and Assan began to bond with each other.^[3] Ever since then, Davrin and Assan has worked as partners.

When Rook and the Veilguard check on an abandoned Grey Warden camp in the High Anderfels, Assan became confrontational to the strangers until Davrin called him off. He questions the Veilguard of their intentions and why they smell of darkspawn. Rook tells Davrin they've been looking for him and that they found blight on the abandoned Grey Warden camp. Davrin revealed this was Lancit and Remi's camp and if they are missing, danger must be afoot. When they suddenly hear darkspawn shrieks, Davrin and Assan prepare to battle them while the Veilguard offer their assistance.

In-game, Assan's Companion Ability is Griffon Strike, which allows him to reach certain switches and dig up dirt piles. Davrin can also use the skill Blight Hunter, which causes Assan to swoop in and destroy a Blight Abscess obstacle.

Davrin, Assan, and the Veilguard fought darkspawn until they reach the Training Grounds, where they find Warden Remi fatally wounded. Remi tells Davrin the Gloom Howler, the darkspawn hunting Grey Wardens and the monster Davrin was hunting, is responsible for the attack on them. Before she passes away, Remi tells Davrin he is Assan's griffon whisperer now. The team then faced the Gloom Howler's darkspawn at the Griffon Aerie. Although the Veilguard prevailed, the Gloom Howler steals all of Assan's siblings for an unknown purpose. Davrin joins the Veilguard in exchange for help with rescuing the kidnapped griffons.

Davrin and Assan are working on a partnership dynamic called "turlum," a sort of unity where a Grey Warden and their bonded griffon move and think as one. During How to Train a Griffon, Davrin and Rook teach Assan how to hunt for gingerwort truffles in Arlathan Forest. Davrin hopes to raise Assan to be independent should anything happen to him. Ultimately, Assan proved to be a clever hunter as he discovered that following Nugs led to finding gingerwort truffles.

During the quest The Cauldron, Davrin received word that the Gloom Howler has attacked a secret Grey Warden redoubt, the Cauldron. Davrin and the Veilguard confront the Gloom Howler at the Cauldron, where Davrin was horrified to learn that the monster was there to extract Archdemon blood in a dastardly plan to blight the kidnapped griffons. The Gloom Howler believes she is protecting the new generation of griffons from suffering the same fate as the griffons who died from the Fourth Blight and sees her mad plan as the only way to save them. The Gloom Howler trapped Davrin and the Veilguard in the ribcage of an archdemon and asks Davrin to join her in her quest. Davrin refuses and Assan distracts the Gloom Howler by attacking her, disorganizing the darkspawn enough for the Veilguard to fight them. The Gloom Howler ultimately escaped but leaves behind a strip of cloth for Davrin and Assan to track her with.

During A Friend in Need, Davrin has a reunion with Davrin's "uncle" Eldrin in Arlathan Forest. After reminiscing about their younger days, Assan suddenly appears; the existence of griffons awes Eldrin. Eldrin is pleased Davrin's experience shepherding Dalish halla has served him in being a caretaker to Assan. Eldrin then explains the dangers of the forest have spooked the halla and Eldrin is far too old to go check up on them. Eldrin enlists Davrin and Assan to tend to the dispersed halla in his place. Davrin plans to assemble the halla by luring them with halla food and attract them with game calls. Rook performs Davrin's ritual to feed the halla, and a sickly halla appears to feed. Assan brings the sickly halla food, which proved to Davrin that griffons have a caring and protective side, rather than being simply a predator and hunter. Davrin reported back to Eldrin and told him about how Assan tended to a sick halla. Eldrin is amazed that a griffon has a surprising softer side and thinks them similar to Davrin, as he is both a hunter of darkspawn and a caretaker to Assan.

During The Profane and the Lost, Assan joined Davrin in assaulting the Gloom Howler's blighted duplicate of Weisshaupt in the Deep Roads. This final attack would rescue Assan's siblings from being blighted by the Gloom Howler. During the final confrontation with the Gloom Howler, Assan swooped in to knock down the Gloom Howler but the Gloom Howler grappled Assan and was about to stab him with a blade coated with Archdemon blood. Before the Gloom Howler could blight Assan, Davrin either persuaded her to stop blighting the griffons by reminding her of her own griffon, Revas, or Assan can distract the Gloom Howler by biting at her so Davrin can run her through with his sword.

Once all the griffons were rescued, Davrin called a meeting comprising of Eldrin, Antoine, Evka Ivo, and Rook to discuss the griffons' future. Davrin feels he is too involved with the griffons to be objective about which life the griffons should lead and to determine which would be best for them. Davrin asks Rook to decide where they should belong. Rook can encourage Davrin to send the rescued griffons to continue serving as comrades and symbols of the Grey Wardens in their fight against the darkness of the world, or send them to be trained by Eldrin to serve as guardians of Arlathan Forest against marauders, poachers, and other evils. Davrin then offers Assan a choice to stay with his siblings but Assan chooses to remain Davrin's partner.

During the team's assault on the gods at Tearstone Island, Rook needs a companion to lead a distraction team in order to draw the Antaam army away from Rook's team. Lace Harding offers to lead a team to help weaken the Antaam troops on the shore, while Davrin suggests he and Assan lead a frontal assault on them instead. Harding believes she is better suited since as a scout she can traverse around the island better and can utilize her formidable dwarf magic while Davrin thinks a Grey Warden will be better suited to face the darkspawn and blight on the island. If the player chooses Davrin's option, Davrin and Assan survive the battle with the Antaam. However, Davrin and Assan sacrifice their lives harassing Ghilan'nain to distract her from Rook. Ghilan'nain stabs Davrin to death and he falls into a blight pit; Assan flies in the blight pit to catch him but he also presumably dies in the attempt. If Harding is chosen, she dies instead and Davrin and Assan survive the battle, escaping the island with the rest of the Veilguard (aside from Rook) before it is destroyed by Elgar'nan after Ghilan'nain's death.