A fortress of 78 dwarves hadn't quite gotten around to setting up proper defences, and were still working mostly outside
Several goblin ambushes later (in a short space of time), EVERYONE was dead or dying, bodies and body parts strewn everywhere, except for the uberlegendary miner/mayor, a carpenter and two children. They were only saved by the timely appearance of a dwarven caravan, which drove the current goblins off but all died of their injuries. Oh and the Dungeon Master noble, who didn't say had gone melancholy but shortly died of hunger despite seeming fine. Obviously, after seeing pretty much everyone they have ever known and/or loved being killed, they were a little upset and had a bit of a tantrum fest.
A couple of years (and many tantrums) later, only the mayor had survived, and being a stubborn dwarf, would not abandon the fortress to the wilds and the prowling goblins, so he quickly dug channels in all the strategic places and built a nice bachelor's apartment - quickly getting over the tragedy of the past by having 400 units of booze all to himself and laughing as elven caravans were swiftly slaughtered by goblin ambushes almost as soon as they appeared.
After a few seasons of this, new immigrants arrived and it was a mad dash to lower the main bridge and get as many dwarves as possible across while sending a few brave souls to die, leading off the two goblin ambushes that appeared. This happened again a bit later and a few immigrants were saved, but outside of the fortress is still strewn with dwarven bodies and possessions. Not as bad as the 77 corpse carnage of '69 though.
There are enough dwarves now that the fort should be able to get back on its feet, and one day, maybe one day, the dwarves will be brave and strong enough to go back into the wilds and fight off those sneaky goblins, with the legendary mayor (now simply referred to as "The Founder") leading the charge...