Thraynîs was a brown paste prepared from the aynîc flea, a fairly large (1/8") flea native to tropical plains (both tall- and shortgrass) or savannas, where it fed on most mammals, particularly large herbivores like cattle and antelopes. The aynîc flea itself was quite common, but the knowledge of its preparation into thraynîs was much less common. Aynîc fleas were captured by coating a cowhide with a sticky mixture which usually contained five parts honey, five parts glue and one part cow urine, then stretching the coated cowhide in the sun on a tree near ground level. The captured fleas were then grounded into thraynîs-paste with a mortar and pestle. Thraynîs caused paralysis; at minimum, it had no ill effects.
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