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Early life

Leopold Cadieux was born in Moncton to a railyard worker and a seamstress, the youngest of four children. His family mostly spoke French at home, but his father taught him and his brother how to speak English, as he believed it would be useful for finding a career, especially in a bilingual city like Moncton. The family was of modest status, but his parents always did their best to provide for their children and protect them from some of the harsher truths of life, such as economic hardships. This gave Cadieux a rather idealistic and naïve view of the world, and he went on to have aspirations to be a sailor. Although the usual age for a young lad to become a seaman at the time was fifteen or so, his parents encouraged him to stay home for a few more years because they would hate to see him leave so young. He therefore joined the Royal Navy and left home after turning eighteen.

A Loyal and Eager Subject

Cadieux was eager to join the Enlightenment expedition as soon as he learnt of it. He had never sailed to such an extreme environment like Antarctica, but he had heard of Theodore Hawthorne's ambitions for the South Pole and the kindness he showed to his crew. He thought it would be an honor to serve under him, and for such a noble cause too. On the expedition's outset, he quickly made friends with two of the other seamen who were similar in age to him, Franklin MacIntyre and Tobias Penrose. He latched onto both of them for similar reasons; MacIntyre was the only one among the three of them with polar experience, while Penrose had many lush tales to tell about the misadventures he's had while at sea. Cadieux admired both and aspired to be as accomplished as they were.

After the camp was settled and the crew fell into a predictable routine, Cadieux began to notice that Penrose was not being as proactive with his duties as he previously had been. Cadieux was very concerned with this, seeing his friend not giving his full effort for the mission, and felt that he needed to do something to fix it and get him on the right track again. He thought that he ought to report Penrose's behavior to the officers so that they could properly discipline him, but he worried about what such a thing might do to their friendship. He put off taking action for a while, hoping that maybe if he gave it enough time, Penrose would right things on his own.

Tensions Increase

As a seaman, Cadieux was very close to the unfolding situation regarding the mystery illness, soon to be known as Austral Hypothermia. A friend of MacIntyre's was one of the people affected, and he wondered if he could become ill too. His unease increased even further when the news of Kyrre Mortensen's gruesome death at the hands of an unknown animal. Was he at risk to be attacked too? He was anxious, and even more unsure than before of how to handle his dilemma with Penrose. He still felt a strong obligation to the officers to make his concerns known, but worried that the timing might stress Penrose out even further given the circumstances, though Cadieux himself was perhaps the most terrified out of the three of them.

Cadieux decided to go to MacIntyre to ask for advice on what to do, not wanting to sacrifice his friendship with Penrose nor put aside his duties as a sailor. MacIntyre suggested that he could report him anonymously, so that he can ease his conscience in both regards. Cadieux agreed that this would be a good course of action, and, after waiting a couple more days, did just as MacIntyre suggested. Penrose subsequently received punishment, getting reduced rations for the next week.

Soon after, a party departed from the camp on the hunt for the animal that killed Mortensen. Cadieux was eager for them to succeed, nearly to the point where it was not a possibility in his mind for them to fail. This was further reaffirmed when he saw the deceased snow griffin they hauled in upon their return a few days later. He joined the cheering crowd, relieved that they wouldn't be at risk of suffering Mortensen's fate any longer. The three friends then attended Lawrence Brewer's presentation about the snow griffin, and were aghast to hear that he didn't think it was the animal that they were looking for. Cadieux struggled to accept this; it meant he was in danger again, it meant he and the other crew were wrong in their premature celebration. Penrose was among the people who actively heckled Brewer at the presentation, and Cadieux was nearly tempted to join in alongside him. He was more distraught and shaken than outright angry at Brewer.