I was thinking of a nomadic tribal people who used steampowered things to survive and end up on the top of the hierarchy thanks to these gifts, but now that you say that, I would guess such things is quite unrealistic. Whilst it would be nice to enlighten some /k/rippled hearts, I'm quite unsure as to ifI could play the role to its best.
Granted, I could do some tinkering and fisdling to ensure things go my way in the end, one shouldn't start with their desired outcome from the start.