17 gold worth of materials

[SangoProduction]

So, the situation is as this: I was given a book of magical/mystical materials. After some back and forth, I just suggested to just treat it as a profession [gather] check, to find materials of worth. So, we had a week before an assault on our city, so I said I was gathering, ended up making a whole 17 gold in a week...lol. Yeah. I know now that profession is completely useless.

But, I've got 17 gold worth of undetermined magical "stuff". Any suggestions? Are there any explosives that are cheap? Perhaps acids of some type? (Not magical, as far as I know, but I don't know much.)
Perhaps there's some special type of mold or something?

[The Grue]

It's not that Profession is useless, it's just that adventuring pays better. 17 gold in a week is a rather comfortable wage, given the prices of things like lodging and food.

But it's peanuts compared to the kind of extravagant equipment and armaments an adventurer carries around. Which is why your character is a professional adventurer and not a professional gatherer.

[icefractal]

Shax's Haversack (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?148101-3-x-Shax-s-Indispensible-Haversack-(Equipment-Handbook)) has a list of high-utility low-cost items. Pick some that are more material than constructed (like Hearthfire, for instance), and there you go.

Nothing that's exactly 17 gp though. However, 17 is a third of 50, which means you could say it's the raw ingredients for making a 50gp alchemical item like Healing Salve. Or say it's one of the 20 gp items with a minor flaw that makes it worth slightly less, like smelling strongly or staining your hands/clothes when used. Or having a 15% chance to fizzle, if you want to be direct about it.