How does this dragon's self-defense mechanism not burn the user?
A type of dragon in my world, simply named the Thick-horn, has a well-known mechanism to use to defend itself despite its clumsiness. They are freakishly large, tend to be slow, and find it hard to fly without leaping off of some sort of high place, despite their bird-like bones. Their kind tends to fight against each other and other species often, requiring them to use this ability.
They can set themselves on fire, everyone.
But even I'm not sure how this biological phenomenon works, and I want to get to the bottom of it. Simply, the dragons sparks fire in their own fur, which spreads but does not harm them. They are intelligent, but I don't see how they would get their hands on extremely rare and fancy materials due to their... animal status.
Less ramble, more dragons! How do these dragons set their bodies on fire like this, without harming themselves?
(Notes: Previously described: some sort of secretion through the skin, maybe take some inspiration from this.)
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1 answer
Monstrous Nightmare, anyone?
Do they have to have fur?
The Monstrous Nightmare exudes a flammable gel over its body, which it can ignite by a biologically-produced spark. Presumably, its scales are also flame resistant. Depending on how hot the fire actually burns, this isn't entirely implausible, especially if the gel's vapor is what is flammable, while the liquid gel actually acts as a thermal insulator. Alternatively or in addition, your dragon exudes something that puts the fire out when it starts to get too hot.
Basically, there are real substances you can apply to yourself and light on fire without actually hurting yourself (when used correctly, i.e. don't let the fire keep burning for too long). You should be able to take something like this and combine it with natural fire resistance to achieve your desired effect.
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