Homebrew Cho-ja Species Details

They live like ants in a hive with a queen and hail from the lands of Kelewan. They can use rifts to travel to other worlds.
Kelewan itself is an old world that was once inhabited by intelligent races, of which only the Thūn and Cho-ja survived. Other races were Sunn and the Thrillillil.
After the arrival of the Tsurani, who fled to Kelewan during the Chaos wars, they lived peacefully witch each other minding their own business.
Cho-ja live mostly underground in hives built in meadows or valleys. A hive is ruled by a Cho-ja queen. One is born less than once during a human lifetime. A hive has around 20,000 members. Occasionally because of population pressure, a hive could be split.
Cho-ja have male and female members. The females are winged.
The Rirari are females who care for the eggs. Another unnamed caste are infertile and mindless and use their wings to vent air through the tunnels to the hive.
Male Cho-ja play when young, but they mature suddenly and take up their role. They either become breeders who fertilize the queen, workers who feed the queen and take several roles according to the hive's needs, or soldiers who protect the hive and the queen. The Cho-ja occasionally ally with the Tsurani.
A Cho-ja soldier is as strong and able as two Tsurani soldiers, while a cho-ja worker can carry a five men burden. Cho-ja are also extraordinarily agile and even at furious speed they can suddenly stop perfectly still.

Anatomy
They are shiny black with some variations in colour and queens display a dark red shade. Their body has six jointed limbs and is segmented like insects . A larger rear thorax has four multi-jointed legs and then a smaller upper thorax, with two arms that can handle tools and weapons. Each forearm possesses a natural very sharp ridge.
Their faces are oval, with large multifaceted eyes. Their faces have some human features, although they have mandibles instead of jaws.
They have chitin exoskeletons. Also, Cho-ja can't see the colour red.
Cho-ja have male and female members. The females are winged.

Culture
Cho-ja live in hives built in meadows or valleys. A hive is ruled by a Cho-ja queen.
They are brave warriors and miners, able to find precious metals and gems buried deep within the earth. The insectoid aliens also held the secret of making their famous and priced silk.
A Cho-ja is taught their language already in the egg sac and they are hatched in creches. They communicate with other insectoids via antennae pheromones.

Structure
Cho-ja have male and female members. The females are winged.
The Rirari are females who puttake care of the eggs from the Cho-ja queen. Females of another unnamed caste are infertile and mindless and use their wings to vent air through the tunnels to the hive.
Young male Cho-ja play a lot, but one day they suddenly mature and take up a role in the hive. They become breeders who fertilize the queen, workers who feed the queen and take several roles according to the hive's need, or soldiers who protect the hive and the queen.
When a new queen is born, soldier Cho-ja are hatched and hastened to maturity for her protection; because of these circumstances they are more aggressive and unpredictable than the seasoned warriors.

Relationship with Tsurani
Cho-ja build their hives in safe places and hard to reach places, not used by the Tsurani, resulting in scarce contact. Eventually their hives are found surrounded by Tsurani estates, and forced to coexist, isolated from the other hives. The Tsurani consider Cho-ja as aliens and can't understand fully their civilization; however the Empire and the Assembly of Magicians contacted the Cho-ja queens. Eventually they decided that the Cho-ja were to be subjects of the Empire. The Great Ones feared the Cho-ja magic, and part of their truce includes a prohibition against using magic (resulting in the behaviour of the Tsurannuani Cho-ja being less colourful than their cousins in the rest of Kelewan).
To have a hive upon one's estate was an honour, a source of military power and an economic asset. In exchange for grain and items fashioned from hide (things the Cho-ja can't produce themselves), they supply their Tsurani Lords with superior warriors, jewels, glowing orbs, silk and other products.
Wars had been fought to control the silk trade, until imperial edict allowed for neither guild nor noble to monopolize it.

Cho-ja Names
In the hive the Cho-ja don't use names. They recognize each other by exchanging pheromones with their antennas. Those how mingle whith other races outside of the hive adopt a name and therefore the names vary greatly.

Cho-ja Traits

A Cho-ja soldier is as strong and able as two Tsurani soldiers and can hold a burden five men could carry. They are very hard to trip, having so many legs, but are also terrified of losing their footing and are vulnerable when prone. To be greeted with stares and whispers, to suffer violence and insult on the street, to see mistrust and fear in every eye is the lot of the Cho-ja. Living mostly underground they can see in the dark.

Ability score increase

Your Strength score increases by 2.

Ability score increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 1.

Ability score decrease

Your Charisma score decreases by 1.

Age

You mature at the same rate as humans but live a few years shorter.

Alignment

Cho-ja tend to be neutral, but act acording to their own laws and tradition. They value coöperation and are usually good in nature.

Size

Cho-ja vary in height and build, also depending on their role in the hive but their height is about the same as that of humans. They seem a bit bulkier because of their abdomen, but are in fact lightfooted and quick. Your size is Medium.

Languages

You speak with lispy noises and clicks, making your speach nonsensical for other races. You communicate your real name in pheromones exchanged by antennae, which cannot be translated. You can speak, read and write Common.

Darkvision

Thanks to your heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Multifooted

You are very hard to trip, having so many legs, therefore you have advantage on saving throws against being knocked prone.
But you are also terrified of losing your footing and are vulnerable when prone on the ground. Therefore, when prone, melee attacks that hit, do critical damage and it takes your full movement to stand up. 

Unarmed forearm strike

Because of the sharp ridge on the forearms you van make an unarmed strike with them. On a hit, a forearm strike deals slashing damage equal to 2 + strength modifier. You are proficient with your unarmed strikes.