CHILD ROCKS is the collective name for the numerous small islands on a watery planet in the Deinste system.  They were founded by Deinster misfits and outcasts who wanted a solitary environment very different from that of their desert forebears.  Each island suffices to house a single individual, who gathers local aquatic life for food.  Their traditional craft involves carving miniature artwork onto the tiny bones of those marine creatures.  The children who are actually born on the Child Rocks are the result of occasional visits between neighboring islands.  Raised by only one parent, each child is then sent off to their own uninhabited Rock when they are old enough to fend for themselves.  Limited genetic diversity and the attendant dangers of recessive diseases threaten the precarious balance of the population.