As an action, you choose a portion of dirt or sand that you can see within 5 meters and that fits within a 1-meter cube. You manipulate it in one of the following ways:

• If you target an area of loose earth or sand, you can hurl it. Make a ranged spell attack against a creature within 5 meters. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 bludgeoning damage. On a miss by 4 or less, the target takes half as much damage.
• If you target an area of loose earth or sand, you can instantaneously excavate it, move it along the ground, and deposit it up to 1 meter away. This movement doesn’t involve enough force to cause damage. This can be used to create a small foxhole with half cover.
• You cause shapes, colors, or both to appear on the dirt or sand, spelling out words, creating images, or shaping patterns. The changes last for 1 hour.
• If the dirt or sand you target is on the ground, you cause it to become difficult terrain. Alternatively, you can cause the ground to become normal terrain if it is already difficult terrain. This change lasts for 1 hour.

If you cast this spell multiple times, you can have no more than two of its non-instantaneous effects active at a time, and you can dismiss such an effect on your turn (no action required).

At higher levels

This spell’s damage increases by 1d8 when you reach 9th level (2d8) and 17th level (3d8).