This may be a stupid question but what are you playing as in Dwarf Fortress? Cause like you can give dwarfs commands but they can also not listen implying you are not perfect embodying the dwarfs. So is there a narrative explanation for how your commands get to the dwarfs?
The player is the god Armok. This is canon, and even the case in Adventure Mode where you have more direct control.
There have been accounts of players that go on killing sprees in Adventure Mode where the character within the game itself will begin crying at the sheer violence and horror they are being subjected to against their will. It's a bit morbid.
To clarify this a bit, the game was previously called Slaves to Armok: God of Blood Chapter II: Dwarf Fortress. During world creation, the continents, the artifacts, historical events, and lesser deities are all created. Armok is the only constant, able to create new worlds and discard them on a whim.
As noted, Armok here is the player. The head deity who can control everything but, for some reason, periodically takes a very deep focus on a particular fort or group of adventurers, bending them to its will. As the god of Blood, it is primarily interested in chaos and mayhem and bizarre situations, which, as any player of Dwarf Fortress knows, is the thing everyone loves about the game and enjoys swapping stories about.
I am Armok
purveyor of mostly accidental violence with occasional absolutely nonsensical hyperfixations like selective grizzly bear breeding and bewildering windmill towers
