austrailia sounds about right but keep in mind(i am really dissapointed in you all) that in G1 the sholai tell you that they have there own continent across a sea that the shapers have never crossed. also (although it never says it outright) the sholai are great explorers therefore there must be other civillisations also.
i would use the essence chitin(i belive thats what it is called) its found in the secret passage and has 22 arm, 1 to all shaping, plus stun(no idea), all at12.5 weight.
the whole idea of tier for your creations is all wrong, for example as a shaper i can reliably get to gazuki-uss with a maxed out fyora.(that heated room thing always kills it)