'The Dragon' appeared in Dragon magazine, a Dungeons and Dragons magazine that ran from 1975 to 2007, and also appeared as an allegory for the latter. The Dragon was the focus of the last three strips of Order of the Stick that ran in Dragon, and also appeared in the same strips printed in Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales.
'The Dragon' appeared on the cover of Snips, Snails and Dragon Tales
In Dragon #357, The Dragon told the Order that he needed their help so that he could protect himself. In #358, he told them his life story, which was actually just an allegory for the history of the trademark holders of Dragon magazine. In #359, he and the Order escaped via a room filled with characters from past comics that ran in Dragon. The last panel of the last issue shows the Order riding The Dragon into the sunset as Haley thanks him for 32 years of pleasure.
In what seems to be the immediate continuity sequence of those strips, the Dragon appears for the last time so far still carrying the Order on his back before lading then on open terrain at the start of the feature coming right after, Invaders from the Fourth Dimension.
His design seems to be based on the cover of issue #1 of Dragon Magazine itself.