I'll confess that I don't have much in the way of scripting ideas, and I don't have a clue about XP/rewards as many other quests ideas have had (this sort of came to me driving to work this morning). There have also been other "find the part" or "bring tools" or "bring materials" quests as well.
Start with an NPC in the first town. When you talk to the NPC them they complain that they have to walk all the way to Ashtown for flour because the water wheel isn't working. The NPC says they haven't seen the "General Maintenance" worker around for at least an hour and they need things fixed right away. Go to Ashtown and a random NPC will speak with you. They say they are aware of the general maintenance person, and everyone in town calls him the GM for short. The second NPC says the GM left to go fishing for a little break as they were done working for the day. At this point you would have to go back to the starting NPC and give an update. The starting NPC would become livid and ask you to track down the so-called GM, and question how much maintenance they actually do. This triggers a "find the GM" requirement who could be somewhere relatively safe like the bank map, just standing there fishing. The GM could say that the issue is a part needs to be made, and the part's creator has been busy with other matters, but is working hard. Of course, you would have to report this to the starting NPC who is just beside themselves at this point. This triggers a "find the creator" requirement. I'd say toss him in Martek's stronghold or Ardesia (sort of a quest lower level players could experience). The creator would say that the part is being worked on and it takes time, but will be fixed as soon as possible. Yes, of course you have to go report this to the starting NPC. Hearing the latest update they essentially shoot the messenger and you loose half your HP as they scream about how their demands are not being met and the creator can't create anything. This triggers... waiting! At this point you would need to just do nothing but wait, maybe for a set number of other quests to be completed, or for a specific other quest to be completed. Once those requirements are met you could talk with the starting NPC. The starting NPC tells you the water wheel is finally working, and they suppose it is working well enough though the NPC thinks it should be working better for all the inconvenience they suffered. You'd probably have to talk to the NPC a few times (opportunities for some great dialogue here), and you'd finally ask the NPC if you get some kind of a reward. The NPC would ask you why you should get a reward since you did nothing at all to fix the problem. At this point your character would get upset that they've walked halfway around the known world trying to help someone. The NPC would finally relent and give you a very small reward and nobody at all is satisfied with the outcome.
Again, GMs and Combatant: you guys and gals are awesome. I totally appreciate the help and feedback I get!
