Tanalok is governed by a representational monarchy. The current ruler is König Werner das Siebte (King Werner the Seventh), Werner August Gunther von Tanalok. His power is balanced by the Ältestenrat (Council of Elders). Each of the Clans sends representatives to the Ältestenrat to serve a term of 21 years. The Clans send one representative for every 15,000 Clan members, plus one for every fraction above 7500, rounding fractions of 15000 up or down, e.g. The Kulmbacher clan, with 25000 members, sends two representatives -- 15000 + 10000 [7500 rounded up] while the Oberwörths, with 35000, also sends two -- 15000 + 15000 + 5000 [7500 rounded down]). However, even the smallest Clan has the right to send one member. This means that the current Ältestenrat has 290 members.

There are currently 90 recognized Clans in Tanalok, averaging 49,744 members per clan, but there is a great deal of variation. Several Clans, such as Bauer, Müller, Schmied, Weber, and Maurer, are far larger than average, while the smallest has only 5,576 members--von Tanalok, the Royal Clan, in many ways the most influential of all. When the numbers in a Clan drop below 10,000 members it is usually incorporated into another larger Clan unless the Krone and the Ältestenrat grant special dispensation. When a Sippe grows to include more that 20,000 members it is permitted, but not required, to establish itself as an independent Clan. (In practice this seldom happens, the only known exceptions occurring when the Sippe grew to include more members than the original Clan.)

Some, but not all, of the Sippen (septs) are listed with the Clan from which they derive.

• Abenteurer
• Amboß
• Bachmann
• Bäcker
• Bärenstark
• Bärenstein
• Bauer / Sippen: Straßenhändler and Farnkraut
• Bergmann
• Bergschleifer
• Bergwiese
• Birnenfeld
• Blitzberger
• Blumenstein
• Brauer
• Brenner
• Buchenhain
• Donnerhimmer (High Mountain Clan)
• Donnersberger
• Durchbohrer
• Eichenfels
• Eichenlaub
• Eichenschild (High Mountain Clan)
• Eisenbart
• Eisenbeiß
• Eisenguß
• Eisenknochen
• Eisenkraft
• Eisenwarenhändler
• Erdhügel
• Falkenstein
• Faßbinder
• Felsenbruder / Sippen: Mutzwerg and Stahlhart
• Fischer
• Fleischer
• Gamsstein
• Gärtner
• Geißbach
• Gerber
• Goblinschlächter (High Mountain Clan)
• Goldberg
• Goldstein
• Gräber
• Granitstein
• Haunreiter / Sippe: Wolfreiter
• Heinzelmännchen
• Heißblut
• Himmelmacher
• Höhlewächter
• Jägermeister
• Kaltreich
• Knochenbrecher
• Knochenspalter
• Koch
• Kulmbacher
• Kundschafter
• Lauterbach
• Luzenstein
• Maurer / Sippe: Siebengebirge and Steinmetz
• Müller
• Oberwörth
• Orkspalter
• Quicklebendig
• Schäffler
• Schildmauer
• Schloss
• Schmiedeberg
• Schmied / Sippen: Goldschmied and Silberschmied
• Schnapsbrenner
• Schönburg
• Schriftsteller
• Schroffstein
• Schuhmacher
• Seemann
• Shändler
• Silberbart
• Steinbart
• Steinhammer (High Mountain Clan)
• Steinschutz
• Steinwand
• Tannhäuser (High Mountain Clan)
• Tiefenbauer
• Tieftunnel
• Trolltod
• von Hohlraumberg (Noble Clan) / Sippen: von Bergfalk and von Grundbesitzer
• von Tanalok (Royal Clan)
• Wagner
• Weber
• Weinbrandhersteller
• Winkel
• Zimmermann